Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Moving On
LET'S SKIP THE LACKLUSTER DISCOURSE OF HOW I MET 40,000,000,000 PEOPLE AND GET TO THE MORE ERRATIC EVENTS OF LIFE :D :D :D
Monday - Met People
Tuesday - Met People
Wednesday - Met People
Thrusday
Today was the day of our Japanese mini drama, aka, skit. I had been working on the script's development with my French partner Judi for the past two weeks and now the time had come to present it. As most of the events as of late have shown, the skit could not go through without complication. As if by necessity, I had become sick. My throat was scratchy and I felt sick all over. Knowing that I could not miss the presentation, I made my way to school in order to fullfil my duty.
The skit itself was simple. My fears of having a coughing attack were never realized and I remembered all of my lines except one, which I simply had to glance at the English version of the script for a moment to remember what came next. From what I could hear, it sounded like Judi had several mispronunciations of her part and had much more trouble with the lines in general. In case of such an event, I had prepared a powerpoint to go along with the presentation in order to semi-distract the audience. Unfortunately, when it comes to grading, Judi will have to face judgment since the skits were videotaped.
I went through the rest of the day suffering through my other two classes. In Human Resources, one of the Japanese students was being followed around by a camera crew for some job hunting interview since she could speak remarkably good English. I tried by best to not look like I was dying while the camera crew was there. After they left, we had a group present their project to us. When class was finally over, I inched my way home, having developed a slight fever by then.
It was not my intention to be afflicted by this illness for long. After I got home at 4:00, I went straight to bed. As could be expected, my sleep was under constant interruption from waking up since I was sick. After sleeping until 10:00, I got up to take a shower. From there, I went back to sleep. I continued fighting my way through sleep until 5:30, when I figured that I had slept all I could. I still felt sick and a little nauseous. I wasn't sure if I was sick to my stomach or if I was just feeling strange for not having ate for 16 hours, but I figured I needed to try eating something, so I had some bread. After eating and not getting sick, I sat at my desk wondering what to do with all the time I had. I looked over at my bed and suddenly wanted to go back to sleep; so I did. I woke up a little before 9:00, making it so that I slept about 16 hours total. I noticed that the sick feeling had disappeared and my fever had gone with it. My throat was still messy though.
Today, being Friday, I had my long break between classes. I discovered as the day progressed that my voice was beginning to fade. It was ironic that I had to talk to people all day. All I did was sit in the lounge and mind my own business and everytime one person left, another person came - including people I didn't even know yet! By the time the day was over, I had almost no voice left! My fever had also started creeping back, so I went to bed at 9:00.
Saturday
I was still sick, but my fever had died completely. Unfortunately, my voice problem was at full quantity. On top of that, I was very susceptible to coughing. Despite that, I was to go on a trip to Kobe with my fellow sick friend, Shiori. We went together as the coughing crew - both of us with colds. On the way to Kobe via train, Shiori would constantly nod-off due to being tired. Due to the ebb and flow of the train, she would eventually fall on me, which I thought was funny. After we reached Kobe, we visited the area called Sannomiya, where there was a festival being held for the people who died in an earthquake 12 years ago and to celebrate their foreign community. After we watched some of the festival, we wandered around for awhile until we came across some European-style tour houses. Shiori has a particular interest in such places because she went to England to study abroad; therefore, we went on a tour. We got a discount to see three houses for $10 as opposed to $15 since we were students. It looked like Shiori was in a dream world as she wandered through the houses. There were some rather interesting things to see as well. After we finished the tour, she found another area with more houses. I requested that we go elsewhere since I wanted to see some Japanese things too. That saved another $12 dollars and me from getting bored. Next, we headed off to the famous China Town. Our visit primarily consisted of us doing a walkthrough. It was pretty nice. As an ending to our journey, we went to Kobe tower. It was very pretty at twilight. From there, we trekked back to the station where we started our journey back home. She again dozed off and fell on me, but this time, she realized that she fell on me and apologized. I told her that it was better me than a stranger, at which point, she elected to rest her head on my shoulder to prevent such from happening. At Hirakata, she stayed on the train to go to Kyoto where she lived, and I went to Makino to save myself some walking time.
Sunday - It's a do nothing, catch up with my blog/do homework day! My voice is a little better and I have a cold X_x
Monday - Met People
Tuesday - Met People
Wednesday - Met People
Thrusday
Today was the day of our Japanese mini drama, aka, skit. I had been working on the script's development with my French partner Judi for the past two weeks and now the time had come to present it. As most of the events as of late have shown, the skit could not go through without complication. As if by necessity, I had become sick. My throat was scratchy and I felt sick all over. Knowing that I could not miss the presentation, I made my way to school in order to fullfil my duty.
The skit itself was simple. My fears of having a coughing attack were never realized and I remembered all of my lines except one, which I simply had to glance at the English version of the script for a moment to remember what came next. From what I could hear, it sounded like Judi had several mispronunciations of her part and had much more trouble with the lines in general. In case of such an event, I had prepared a powerpoint to go along with the presentation in order to semi-distract the audience. Unfortunately, when it comes to grading, Judi will have to face judgment since the skits were videotaped.
I went through the rest of the day suffering through my other two classes. In Human Resources, one of the Japanese students was being followed around by a camera crew for some job hunting interview since she could speak remarkably good English. I tried by best to not look like I was dying while the camera crew was there. After they left, we had a group present their project to us. When class was finally over, I inched my way home, having developed a slight fever by then.
It was not my intention to be afflicted by this illness for long. After I got home at 4:00, I went straight to bed. As could be expected, my sleep was under constant interruption from waking up since I was sick. After sleeping until 10:00, I got up to take a shower. From there, I went back to sleep. I continued fighting my way through sleep until 5:30, when I figured that I had slept all I could. I still felt sick and a little nauseous. I wasn't sure if I was sick to my stomach or if I was just feeling strange for not having ate for 16 hours, but I figured I needed to try eating something, so I had some bread. After eating and not getting sick, I sat at my desk wondering what to do with all the time I had. I looked over at my bed and suddenly wanted to go back to sleep; so I did. I woke up a little before 9:00, making it so that I slept about 16 hours total. I noticed that the sick feeling had disappeared and my fever had gone with it. My throat was still messy though.
Today, being Friday, I had my long break between classes. I discovered as the day progressed that my voice was beginning to fade. It was ironic that I had to talk to people all day. All I did was sit in the lounge and mind my own business and everytime one person left, another person came - including people I didn't even know yet! By the time the day was over, I had almost no voice left! My fever had also started creeping back, so I went to bed at 9:00.
Saturday
I was still sick, but my fever had died completely. Unfortunately, my voice problem was at full quantity. On top of that, I was very susceptible to coughing. Despite that, I was to go on a trip to Kobe with my fellow sick friend, Shiori. We went together as the coughing crew - both of us with colds. On the way to Kobe via train, Shiori would constantly nod-off due to being tired. Due to the ebb and flow of the train, she would eventually fall on me, which I thought was funny. After we reached Kobe, we visited the area called Sannomiya, where there was a festival being held for the people who died in an earthquake 12 years ago and to celebrate their foreign community. After we watched some of the festival, we wandered around for awhile until we came across some European-style tour houses. Shiori has a particular interest in such places because she went to England to study abroad; therefore, we went on a tour. We got a discount to see three houses for $10 as opposed to $15 since we were students. It looked like Shiori was in a dream world as she wandered through the houses. There were some rather interesting things to see as well. After we finished the tour, she found another area with more houses. I requested that we go elsewhere since I wanted to see some Japanese things too. That saved another $12 dollars and me from getting bored. Next, we headed off to the famous China Town. Our visit primarily consisted of us doing a walkthrough. It was pretty nice. As an ending to our journey, we went to Kobe tower. It was very pretty at twilight. From there, we trekked back to the station where we started our journey back home. She again dozed off and fell on me, but this time, she realized that she fell on me and apologized. I told her that it was better me than a stranger, at which point, she elected to rest her head on my shoulder to prevent such from happening. At Hirakata, she stayed on the train to go to Kyoto where she lived, and I went to Makino to save myself some walking time.
Sunday - It's a do nothing, catch up with my blog/do homework day! My voice is a little better and I have a cold X_x
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Catching Up Again
Friday, April 20 - The Milky Way
I had previously received an email from Miruku inquiring where I was at the moment. At that particular time, I had already returned to my dorm, where I would continue work on that horrific project of mine. I described to Miruku in my response that I would be tremendously busy until Friday. Since she had obviously tried to set up a meeting with me, I decided not to leave her hanging by inviting her to lunch with me on Friday. When said day arrived, we met as planned.
She came with some friends who, after meeting me, all went off to do something else. Miruku and I surveyed the area for potential foodage, and we decided to go to the upstairs cafeteria in order to perform the eating ritual. I had never been to the upstairs cafeteria before. They had some different selections, but nothing substantial. I opted to get the omuraisu, which is the Japanese way to say omelette with rice in it. After we got our food, Miruku and I talked about various things. After eating, we continued to talk about various things in the CIE. Eventually, class interfered with our conversation.
Today, we had another negotiation. We were acting as representatives of a college including the trustees, headmaster, and faculty. I was part of the faculty with three others. The negotiation went about as we expected. The headmaster fought hard for his sports improvements, the faculty fought hard for the scholastic improvements, and the trustees fought hard for the profit margins. As we were winding the negotiation up, the teacher walked in and distributed a paper that said a student was attacked on a dark path and we were advised to invest in lighting. This was a rather sneaky move to make the negotiation more interesting. We had only half the necessary money to complete the lights as our deal stood. We decided to do half the lights and add a lighting project to the engineering curriculum as well as a self-defense class.
After the negotiation, I returned to the lounge to meet Miruku and Yuki. We stayed and talked until the lounge closed at 8:15. From there, Miruku and Yuki decided to join me for dinner to prevent me from having to eat alone. We went to Roro where we continued our random chatting. After dinner, we each went our own ways since it was late.
Saturday, April 21 - The Funkytown Osaka Tour: fieldtrip tag
As aptly named by our teacher, we went on a fieldtrip for my Culture class. On the way to the station, I saw many of my classmates riding the bus too. We arrived a little early, so I talked with my classmate Sayuri for awhile until it was time to meet with the class.
Our first stop led us to the Liberty Osaka Museum, where we got to view various articles on human rights in Japan. Most unfortunely, coupled with my already uninterest in museums, all of the displays were in Japanese, hence making the experience quite boring. I had to backtrack several times in order to prevent finishing the tour an hour before those who could read Japanese. After I finished the tour, I went to eat lunch at the museum's cafeteria with Eilene and Sayuri. We had to rush since we were worried about being late for our departure time, but we ended having to wait for the teacher to finish the tour anyway.
Next, we ventured to the homeless area of Osaka. There were many people with many reactions to our 25 person group. Some people ignored us, some people greeted us, some people greeted us per person, some people commented on us, and some people tried to talk with us. After walking around for awhile, we went to an even more obscure area: the red light district. There were many open buildings, each featuring a young girl being guarded by a not so young girl. Many of the young girls laughed as we passed, perhaps out of embarrassment, or pehaps because there were 20-some foreigners walking through the red light district of Osaka.
After leaving the slums of Osaka, we began making our way to Korea Town. On the way there, we passed through several shopping areas that were very narrow, but full of people. We later passed through a fish market. Next, we stopped by a shrine, where most people sat down and rested since we had been walking for several hours straight. We then went into Korea Town, where, other than a few different names on products, everything pretty much looked like Japan.
We ended our tour at a Korean restaurant, where I discovered that all of our food had been pre-ordered by the teacher. This of course meant that I would not like much of what came my way since a lot of it was either spicy or seafood. The last dish looked like someone went to the beach and threw in everything they found without even removing the shells! All I can say is that it was a $20 meal that I walked away from still feeling hungry. So at last I found food that I don't like in Japan; except the food wasn't Japanese...
Sunday, April 22 - You Are Candy!
Today was the welcome 'party' for the freshmen. It seemed to be more of a recruiting effort from the school clubs than a welcoming ceremony. The main attraction was in front of the cafeteria, where many musical clubs came to perform. I watched a few performances until I got hungry and went for lunch. While at lunch, I was joined by Hisaka and her friend Yumi. By this time, the reality that my project was actually over had finally caught up with me, so I was in a rather hyper-active mood. Because of this, Hisaka, at one point, said that I was okashii (strange), but in a good way. Okashi also means candy in Japanese, so I proclaimed, "I'm not candy!" This seemed to be popular with my company, as from then on, Hisaka would proclaim, "You are candy!"
After lunch, we exited the cafeteria to find a heavy metal band performing. There was a big Japanese guy screaming and the guitarists were going wild. I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Hisaka and Yumi seemed to get a kick out of me thinking it was funny. After we got tired of watching the band, we wandered off toward the CIE where we were drafted by the dance team to join them in a mini lesson. I attempted to follow the instructions and eventually was able to do the moves acceptably by the end of the lesson. From there, we went to the gymnasium to watch various clubs introduce themselves. That did not prove to be very entertaining, so we went back to watching the bands perform. Some of them were actually pretty good. After we finished watching the bands, we all went home.
I met Nabil, Todd, and Einar and we all went to dinner. After dinner, Todd and Einar went home and I went to karaoke with Nabil. We tried singing some different songs since our party was small this time. After that, we headed home to prepare for the oncoming school day.
I had previously received an email from Miruku inquiring where I was at the moment. At that particular time, I had already returned to my dorm, where I would continue work on that horrific project of mine. I described to Miruku in my response that I would be tremendously busy until Friday. Since she had obviously tried to set up a meeting with me, I decided not to leave her hanging by inviting her to lunch with me on Friday. When said day arrived, we met as planned.
She came with some friends who, after meeting me, all went off to do something else. Miruku and I surveyed the area for potential foodage, and we decided to go to the upstairs cafeteria in order to perform the eating ritual. I had never been to the upstairs cafeteria before. They had some different selections, but nothing substantial. I opted to get the omuraisu, which is the Japanese way to say omelette with rice in it. After we got our food, Miruku and I talked about various things. After eating, we continued to talk about various things in the CIE. Eventually, class interfered with our conversation.
Today, we had another negotiation. We were acting as representatives of a college including the trustees, headmaster, and faculty. I was part of the faculty with three others. The negotiation went about as we expected. The headmaster fought hard for his sports improvements, the faculty fought hard for the scholastic improvements, and the trustees fought hard for the profit margins. As we were winding the negotiation up, the teacher walked in and distributed a paper that said a student was attacked on a dark path and we were advised to invest in lighting. This was a rather sneaky move to make the negotiation more interesting. We had only half the necessary money to complete the lights as our deal stood. We decided to do half the lights and add a lighting project to the engineering curriculum as well as a self-defense class.
After the negotiation, I returned to the lounge to meet Miruku and Yuki. We stayed and talked until the lounge closed at 8:15. From there, Miruku and Yuki decided to join me for dinner to prevent me from having to eat alone. We went to Roro where we continued our random chatting. After dinner, we each went our own ways since it was late.
Saturday, April 21 - The Funkytown Osaka Tour: fieldtrip tag
As aptly named by our teacher, we went on a fieldtrip for my Culture class. On the way to the station, I saw many of my classmates riding the bus too. We arrived a little early, so I talked with my classmate Sayuri for awhile until it was time to meet with the class.
Our first stop led us to the Liberty Osaka Museum, where we got to view various articles on human rights in Japan. Most unfortunely, coupled with my already uninterest in museums, all of the displays were in Japanese, hence making the experience quite boring. I had to backtrack several times in order to prevent finishing the tour an hour before those who could read Japanese. After I finished the tour, I went to eat lunch at the museum's cafeteria with Eilene and Sayuri. We had to rush since we were worried about being late for our departure time, but we ended having to wait for the teacher to finish the tour anyway.
Next, we ventured to the homeless area of Osaka. There were many people with many reactions to our 25 person group. Some people ignored us, some people greeted us, some people greeted us per person, some people commented on us, and some people tried to talk with us. After walking around for awhile, we went to an even more obscure area: the red light district. There were many open buildings, each featuring a young girl being guarded by a not so young girl. Many of the young girls laughed as we passed, perhaps out of embarrassment, or pehaps because there were 20-some foreigners walking through the red light district of Osaka.
After leaving the slums of Osaka, we began making our way to Korea Town. On the way there, we passed through several shopping areas that were very narrow, but full of people. We later passed through a fish market. Next, we stopped by a shrine, where most people sat down and rested since we had been walking for several hours straight. We then went into Korea Town, where, other than a few different names on products, everything pretty much looked like Japan.
We ended our tour at a Korean restaurant, where I discovered that all of our food had been pre-ordered by the teacher. This of course meant that I would not like much of what came my way since a lot of it was either spicy or seafood. The last dish looked like someone went to the beach and threw in everything they found without even removing the shells! All I can say is that it was a $20 meal that I walked away from still feeling hungry. So at last I found food that I don't like in Japan; except the food wasn't Japanese...
Sunday, April 22 - You Are Candy!
Today was the welcome 'party' for the freshmen. It seemed to be more of a recruiting effort from the school clubs than a welcoming ceremony. The main attraction was in front of the cafeteria, where many musical clubs came to perform. I watched a few performances until I got hungry and went for lunch. While at lunch, I was joined by Hisaka and her friend Yumi. By this time, the reality that my project was actually over had finally caught up with me, so I was in a rather hyper-active mood. Because of this, Hisaka, at one point, said that I was okashii (strange), but in a good way. Okashi also means candy in Japanese, so I proclaimed, "I'm not candy!" This seemed to be popular with my company, as from then on, Hisaka would proclaim, "You are candy!"
After lunch, we exited the cafeteria to find a heavy metal band performing. There was a big Japanese guy screaming and the guitarists were going wild. I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Hisaka and Yumi seemed to get a kick out of me thinking it was funny. After we got tired of watching the band, we wandered off toward the CIE where we were drafted by the dance team to join them in a mini lesson. I attempted to follow the instructions and eventually was able to do the moves acceptably by the end of the lesson. From there, we went to the gymnasium to watch various clubs introduce themselves. That did not prove to be very entertaining, so we went back to watching the bands perform. Some of them were actually pretty good. After we finished watching the bands, we all went home.
I met Nabil, Todd, and Einar and we all went to dinner. After dinner, Todd and Einar went home and I went to karaoke with Nabil. We tried singing some different songs since our party was small this time. After that, we headed home to prepare for the oncoming school day.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
My Thesis to You
I have a game on my computer called Stepmania. It is a computer simulation of the popular Japanese dance game, Dance Dance Revolution. Every now and then, I will run across a difficult song that will prove very challenging to pass. Despite the song's difficulty, I am able to survive, however, toward the end of this song, there is a part that is almost impossible to pass that makes me fail the song. I have named such an instance as a f--- you move.
Perhaps it has crossed your interest as to why I am describing such things to you in my rather late blog about my recent experiences in Japan. To clear things up, the past several days have been a splitting example of the f--- you move in that I have been so unbelievably swamped with school work that I had absolutely no interest to sit down and catch up with several days worth of blogging. Because I now have almost two weeks worth of story to tell, I have named this particular blog a thesis.
Sunday, April 8 - Flowers Galore
For centuries, it has been a Japanese tradition to view the majestic sakura/cherry blossom tree blooming. This practice, named Hanami (flower seeing), had been the hot topic around campus for a few weeks. The sakura had an apparent short lifespan, and I had yet to see them. I started to worry that I might not get to see these flowers since I have difficulties traveling to new places by myself and could not find anyone to go with me. Then suddenly, it was Kazuki to the rescue! My dear friend and I traveled to Zoheikyouku in Osaka; the Japanese version of the US Mint. Our journey led us to a jam-packed park in the area where many others had come to view the flowers. As we walked, I was able to witness both the majestic flowers, that were quite plentiful, and the masses of Japanese folk who were partaking in their time-old tradition of flower viewing. As we left the park, we progressed into the heart of Zoheikyouku where we joined the multi-lane line of people wandering through the aisle of sakura trees. As if in Atlanta traffic on foot, we progressed through the area, snapping pictures as we crept. At one point, Kazuki asked if I knew how to change pictures on the computer, so I later took one of the pictures from our trip and made it look like he burned down a house. I quite honestly have no idea what we did after seeing the flowers, as that was literally two weeks ago. But feel free to view the pictures under the hanami tag.
Wednesday, April 11 - Hito ga ooi
Today was the first day of school. Of course, I refer to the Japanese students, as I have been in school for a long time already. 12:00 lunch time went from very busy to unbearable. During my waiting period between classes, I noticed a group of three Japanese girls peering into the lounge. It was obvious that they thought they were not allowed to enter, so I beckoned them inside to permit them entrance. The girls asked if it was okay for them to enter and then began the typical process of practicing English with a foreigner. These girls, Yuka, Miki, and Kayoko, made similar comments to what Ai and Hiromi said about me in terms of being handsome. I think this perception is mainly due to me not being Japanese, as some Japanese girls prefer foreign looks. We talked for a short while before they all scampered out, having to go somewhere.
I also saw my friends from before the semester ended, Koichiro and Mariko. I had met Mariko only once, and when I remembered her name, she was taken aback. After we talked for awhile, their friend, Kanae, came to join the party. However, Koichiro and Mariko had to take their leave for class and so I just talked with Kanae as did Albert, who eventually joined in as well.
Outside, there were many clubs advertising themselves for the new students. Some clubs were performing their various arts, while others just sat at tables patiently. The campus had certainly come to life. I also noticed that the school facilities remained open much later than before, which I was somewhat upset about since it was unfair to the foriegn students before.
Thursday, April 12 - The End of Freedom
The main reason my blog is two weeks behind is because of the giant presentation we had in Human Resource Management that I volunteered to do the powerpoint for while the other members simply had to make their speaking parts. As a great summation of the next week's worth of work on the presentation, I had to continuously make ammendments to the project up until the day of the presentation which was a week from this entry.
In addition to the project, I had also volunteered to speak at an intercultural exchange event on Saturday, which I had a feeling would make life difficult for me. I decided that it was best to fully concentrate on completing the presentation for that so I won't have to worry about it later. I decided to do my topic on International Food in America.
Friday, April 13 - Lunch Meet
Lunch time had become atrocious. There were never any seats for to sit at since there were so many students. Of course, being an exotic foreigner, I was able to easily find an open seat and gain permission to use it. As if by divine will, the people at the table would eventually start a conversation with me. That is how I met Shiori, Ayako, Mariko, Nanako, and Saki. Shiori was apparently preparing for a job interview as most third year students go for in preparation for graduation. She had to leave before everyone else, but we all did the 'great exchange' of phone information before she left. Ayako was the flamenco club with one of my friends, Yuko. I showed everyone the picture of Kazuki burning down a house and was able to convince them that he acutally did it before telling them that I made the picture myself. I also showed Saki Saki's picture, and she said that she might have seen her before. We all continued to chat until they had to go.
After lunch, I went to work on my project in the lounge. While working, Yuka, Miki, and Kayoko came for a visit. I decided that Kayoko was the single most cutest girl in Japan, as I have to work to not daze off while looking at her. I spent their visit showing them my project thus far and then several pictures from home. Soon after, they again had to go.
Saturday, April 14 - International Exchange
I made my way to school early so I could eat lunch before presenting. From there, I went to the event's room where I discovered myself to be first: first in arriving, and first in presenting. My presentation worked as it should and all was set and ready. The room seemed to be rather scarce as it neared starting time, but at the last minute, there became standing room only, which soon after also dissipated.
I didn't expect my speech to be anything special, but it really didn't matter since I was first and there was nothing to compare it to. Everyone else primarily presented about their cultures which was both interesting and boring at times. The main event, as I had anticipated, was Nabil doing a traditional dance from Dubai. For pictures, please refer to the nabildance tag. I also have a video with no place to put it. After the presentations, we had chat time where I met two more girls who I have pretty much forgotten since I saw them only once. Later, I went with Kazuki for karaoke.
Sunday, April 15 - All Work and Some Play
I worked on my project all Sunday until Nabil came by that evening and we all went to Round One. I needed the break, but I felt that it would not be enough.
Monday, April 16 - Death
As I expected, I was completely burned out on Monday from having so much work to do. Apart from the project, most of my classes kept throwing homework at me and I wasn't too interested to hear it. After dragging through my classes with an alcohol-less hangover, I went to the computer lab with Yu (group member) to discuss what he wanted added to the powerpoint. I ran into Shiori in the lab and after I finished talking with Yu, I went to dinner with Shiori who was looking for something to do that evening. We talked about how she wanted to become a flight attendant and how her interviews were going. After talking in the restaurant for about two hours, we walked to the station in search for something to do. We went into a store where she looked at some magazines for awhile. Soon after, she discovered that she had to go since the buses in Kyoto stop early. My evening adventure helped me feel a little better, but I was still mostly dead and I still had all the work I had to do.
Tuesday, April 17 - And Her Name Was Milk
Lunch presented the same problem as usual with no seats readily available, and so I scouted out a cute girl with an open seat and asked if I could sit. I allowed the automated process of being talked to to take place. Sure enough, one of the girls at the table began a conversation. This girl's name was Miruku, which is the Japanese pronunciation of milk. She was with her friend, Yuki, and they were sitting at the table with another girl, Miho, who they did not know. I could tell that Miho was in a higher grade than Miruku and Yuki since her English homework was much more advanced than the English that Miruku and Yuki were using. In fact, as Miruku struggled to communicate with me, Miho would occasionally chuckle since I would look at her, knowing she knew what they wanted to say.
Most of the conversation came from Miruku, who seemed to have a much more assertive personality than any other Japanese girl I had came across. Yuki and Miho seemed to remain as simple spectators for the entire time. I eventually told Miruku that she was very animated (with the help of my dictionary) because she would constantly move while talking. She was very entertaining. All of us also participated in the 'great exchange' of phone information before parting ways.
Later that evening, I saw Miruku in the CIE as I was thinking about heading home. We went into the lounge where we joined some of her friends, a different Yuki, Masato, and one who's name I did not catch. We continued to talk for awhile until Yusuke pulled me away to ask me about the project. After I helped him figure out what to do, I returned to the girls to talk with them until they had to go.
Wednesday, April 18 - More Names
In the lounge, I found Mariko and her friend Yoshie, who I had met briefly before. Mariko soon had to go to class, and she was replaced by Yuko, my classmate. I worked on my project while occasionally talking to Yoshie and Yuko. Both of them had an impending class and so they had to go eventually. Soon after their exit, however, I was joined by a new group of girls. I can remember only two of their names, which were Hisaka and Risa. Albert had also joined the party soon after their arrival. I spent my time showing them various pictures on my laptop since my ability to work on my project was once again interrupted. We all talked until I had to go to class. After I went back to the dorm, Miruku sent me a message asking where I was. I told her I was very busy up until Friday, so we set up an appointment to meet for lunch on Friday.
Thursday, April 19 - The SuperNova
At long last, the day had finally arrived. All I could think about all day was getting rid of my presentation. The day inched by like a legless dead mule on a conveyer belt going the opposite direction. Finally, the time came for us to give our presentation. As opposed to my usual speeches, I was extremely unprepaired for this one since all of my time was spent on making the powerpoint. I was fortunate to have typed out a speech for me to read to the class, although I had no time to practice it. My part was substantially shorter than everyone else's though, so it wasn't so bad for the presentation. I was surprised that we actually spent the entire class presenting, as I thought we would come up 30 minutes short.
After the presentation, I went to meet Einar so he could take my laptop home for me. I was on my way to Kyoto. I was going to meet my friend Aya, who I met from the website I became a member of a while ago. Aya has a dream to become a singer, so we were planning to go to karaoke so I could see what she was all about. Once we met, I could tell that she had a voice just by how she talked. She had been studying English for only a year via private lessons. It seemed that they had spent a large amount of time perfecting her pronunciation, as she had very clear speech. What they hadn't spent a lot of time on was vocabulary, so we had some difficulties communicating at times.
For some odd reason, we ended up driving aroud Kyoto for two hours looking for a place to eat. Once we finally found a place and ate, we went to karaoke for an hour. She had me start out before taking her turn. As I later had to get a friend to help me translate for her, listening to her sing was like listening to a CD. With the exception of a few 'l' sounds and 'th' sounds, I could swear that I was listening to an American pop star singing on a professionally made CD. She said that she would sound bad since she had a bit of a cold, but I couldn't hear it.
After karaoke, we both had to go back home since it was getting late. When I finally got home, it had been 13 hours since I left that morning.
I'll type the rest later! I have to go to class now!
Perhaps it has crossed your interest as to why I am describing such things to you in my rather late blog about my recent experiences in Japan. To clear things up, the past several days have been a splitting example of the f--- you move in that I have been so unbelievably swamped with school work that I had absolutely no interest to sit down and catch up with several days worth of blogging. Because I now have almost two weeks worth of story to tell, I have named this particular blog a thesis.
Sunday, April 8 - Flowers Galore
For centuries, it has been a Japanese tradition to view the majestic sakura/cherry blossom tree blooming. This practice, named Hanami (flower seeing), had been the hot topic around campus for a few weeks. The sakura had an apparent short lifespan, and I had yet to see them. I started to worry that I might not get to see these flowers since I have difficulties traveling to new places by myself and could not find anyone to go with me. Then suddenly, it was Kazuki to the rescue! My dear friend and I traveled to Zoheikyouku in Osaka; the Japanese version of the US Mint. Our journey led us to a jam-packed park in the area where many others had come to view the flowers. As we walked, I was able to witness both the majestic flowers, that were quite plentiful, and the masses of Japanese folk who were partaking in their time-old tradition of flower viewing. As we left the park, we progressed into the heart of Zoheikyouku where we joined the multi-lane line of people wandering through the aisle of sakura trees. As if in Atlanta traffic on foot, we progressed through the area, snapping pictures as we crept. At one point, Kazuki asked if I knew how to change pictures on the computer, so I later took one of the pictures from our trip and made it look like he burned down a house. I quite honestly have no idea what we did after seeing the flowers, as that was literally two weeks ago. But feel free to view the pictures under the hanami tag.
Wednesday, April 11 - Hito ga ooi
Today was the first day of school. Of course, I refer to the Japanese students, as I have been in school for a long time already. 12:00 lunch time went from very busy to unbearable. During my waiting period between classes, I noticed a group of three Japanese girls peering into the lounge. It was obvious that they thought they were not allowed to enter, so I beckoned them inside to permit them entrance. The girls asked if it was okay for them to enter and then began the typical process of practicing English with a foreigner. These girls, Yuka, Miki, and Kayoko, made similar comments to what Ai and Hiromi said about me in terms of being handsome. I think this perception is mainly due to me not being Japanese, as some Japanese girls prefer foreign looks. We talked for a short while before they all scampered out, having to go somewhere.
I also saw my friends from before the semester ended, Koichiro and Mariko. I had met Mariko only once, and when I remembered her name, she was taken aback. After we talked for awhile, their friend, Kanae, came to join the party. However, Koichiro and Mariko had to take their leave for class and so I just talked with Kanae as did Albert, who eventually joined in as well.
Outside, there were many clubs advertising themselves for the new students. Some clubs were performing their various arts, while others just sat at tables patiently. The campus had certainly come to life. I also noticed that the school facilities remained open much later than before, which I was somewhat upset about since it was unfair to the foriegn students before.
Thursday, April 12 - The End of Freedom
The main reason my blog is two weeks behind is because of the giant presentation we had in Human Resource Management that I volunteered to do the powerpoint for while the other members simply had to make their speaking parts. As a great summation of the next week's worth of work on the presentation, I had to continuously make ammendments to the project up until the day of the presentation which was a week from this entry.
In addition to the project, I had also volunteered to speak at an intercultural exchange event on Saturday, which I had a feeling would make life difficult for me. I decided that it was best to fully concentrate on completing the presentation for that so I won't have to worry about it later. I decided to do my topic on International Food in America.
Friday, April 13 - Lunch Meet
Lunch time had become atrocious. There were never any seats for to sit at since there were so many students. Of course, being an exotic foreigner, I was able to easily find an open seat and gain permission to use it. As if by divine will, the people at the table would eventually start a conversation with me. That is how I met Shiori, Ayako, Mariko, Nanako, and Saki. Shiori was apparently preparing for a job interview as most third year students go for in preparation for graduation. She had to leave before everyone else, but we all did the 'great exchange' of phone information before she left. Ayako was the flamenco club with one of my friends, Yuko. I showed everyone the picture of Kazuki burning down a house and was able to convince them that he acutally did it before telling them that I made the picture myself. I also showed Saki Saki's picture, and she said that she might have seen her before. We all continued to chat until they had to go.
After lunch, I went to work on my project in the lounge. While working, Yuka, Miki, and Kayoko came for a visit. I decided that Kayoko was the single most cutest girl in Japan, as I have to work to not daze off while looking at her. I spent their visit showing them my project thus far and then several pictures from home. Soon after, they again had to go.
Saturday, April 14 - International Exchange
I made my way to school early so I could eat lunch before presenting. From there, I went to the event's room where I discovered myself to be first: first in arriving, and first in presenting. My presentation worked as it should and all was set and ready. The room seemed to be rather scarce as it neared starting time, but at the last minute, there became standing room only, which soon after also dissipated.
I didn't expect my speech to be anything special, but it really didn't matter since I was first and there was nothing to compare it to. Everyone else primarily presented about their cultures which was both interesting and boring at times. The main event, as I had anticipated, was Nabil doing a traditional dance from Dubai. For pictures, please refer to the nabildance tag. I also have a video with no place to put it. After the presentations, we had chat time where I met two more girls who I have pretty much forgotten since I saw them only once. Later, I went with Kazuki for karaoke.
Sunday, April 15 - All Work and Some Play
I worked on my project all Sunday until Nabil came by that evening and we all went to Round One. I needed the break, but I felt that it would not be enough.
Monday, April 16 - Death
As I expected, I was completely burned out on Monday from having so much work to do. Apart from the project, most of my classes kept throwing homework at me and I wasn't too interested to hear it. After dragging through my classes with an alcohol-less hangover, I went to the computer lab with Yu (group member) to discuss what he wanted added to the powerpoint. I ran into Shiori in the lab and after I finished talking with Yu, I went to dinner with Shiori who was looking for something to do that evening. We talked about how she wanted to become a flight attendant and how her interviews were going. After talking in the restaurant for about two hours, we walked to the station in search for something to do. We went into a store where she looked at some magazines for awhile. Soon after, she discovered that she had to go since the buses in Kyoto stop early. My evening adventure helped me feel a little better, but I was still mostly dead and I still had all the work I had to do.
Tuesday, April 17 - And Her Name Was Milk
Lunch presented the same problem as usual with no seats readily available, and so I scouted out a cute girl with an open seat and asked if I could sit. I allowed the automated process of being talked to to take place. Sure enough, one of the girls at the table began a conversation. This girl's name was Miruku, which is the Japanese pronunciation of milk. She was with her friend, Yuki, and they were sitting at the table with another girl, Miho, who they did not know. I could tell that Miho was in a higher grade than Miruku and Yuki since her English homework was much more advanced than the English that Miruku and Yuki were using. In fact, as Miruku struggled to communicate with me, Miho would occasionally chuckle since I would look at her, knowing she knew what they wanted to say.
Most of the conversation came from Miruku, who seemed to have a much more assertive personality than any other Japanese girl I had came across. Yuki and Miho seemed to remain as simple spectators for the entire time. I eventually told Miruku that she was very animated (with the help of my dictionary) because she would constantly move while talking. She was very entertaining. All of us also participated in the 'great exchange' of phone information before parting ways.
Later that evening, I saw Miruku in the CIE as I was thinking about heading home. We went into the lounge where we joined some of her friends, a different Yuki, Masato, and one who's name I did not catch. We continued to talk for awhile until Yusuke pulled me away to ask me about the project. After I helped him figure out what to do, I returned to the girls to talk with them until they had to go.
Wednesday, April 18 - More Names
In the lounge, I found Mariko and her friend Yoshie, who I had met briefly before. Mariko soon had to go to class, and she was replaced by Yuko, my classmate. I worked on my project while occasionally talking to Yoshie and Yuko. Both of them had an impending class and so they had to go eventually. Soon after their exit, however, I was joined by a new group of girls. I can remember only two of their names, which were Hisaka and Risa. Albert had also joined the party soon after their arrival. I spent my time showing them various pictures on my laptop since my ability to work on my project was once again interrupted. We all talked until I had to go to class. After I went back to the dorm, Miruku sent me a message asking where I was. I told her I was very busy up until Friday, so we set up an appointment to meet for lunch on Friday.
Thursday, April 19 - The SuperNova
At long last, the day had finally arrived. All I could think about all day was getting rid of my presentation. The day inched by like a legless dead mule on a conveyer belt going the opposite direction. Finally, the time came for us to give our presentation. As opposed to my usual speeches, I was extremely unprepaired for this one since all of my time was spent on making the powerpoint. I was fortunate to have typed out a speech for me to read to the class, although I had no time to practice it. My part was substantially shorter than everyone else's though, so it wasn't so bad for the presentation. I was surprised that we actually spent the entire class presenting, as I thought we would come up 30 minutes short.
After the presentation, I went to meet Einar so he could take my laptop home for me. I was on my way to Kyoto. I was going to meet my friend Aya, who I met from the website I became a member of a while ago. Aya has a dream to become a singer, so we were planning to go to karaoke so I could see what she was all about. Once we met, I could tell that she had a voice just by how she talked. She had been studying English for only a year via private lessons. It seemed that they had spent a large amount of time perfecting her pronunciation, as she had very clear speech. What they hadn't spent a lot of time on was vocabulary, so we had some difficulties communicating at times.
For some odd reason, we ended up driving aroud Kyoto for two hours looking for a place to eat. Once we finally found a place and ate, we went to karaoke for an hour. She had me start out before taking her turn. As I later had to get a friend to help me translate for her, listening to her sing was like listening to a CD. With the exception of a few 'l' sounds and 'th' sounds, I could swear that I was listening to an American pop star singing on a professionally made CD. She said that she would sound bad since she had a bit of a cold, but I couldn't hear it.
After karaoke, we both had to go back home since it was getting late. When I finally got home, it had been 13 hours since I left that morning.
I'll type the rest later! I have to go to class now!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Random Acts of Practice
Friday started off like any other Friday; go to Japanese class and do my language lab assignment. After lunch, I decided to put a theory I had to the test. The last few days, I just sat in the lounge doing nothing in particular when all of the sudden, something cool happened. And so, after working on my Japanese review sheet, I began listening to music and playing my DS while greeting people as they passed. At one point, I looked up and there were two Japanese girls standing there hoping to get my attention.
After noticing them, they asked if I could help them practice English if I wasn't busy. Of course, I was glad to talk with them instead of play games, and I cooly shut my DS to show that I would talk with them. They were freshmen who would be starting school next week. They asked me various questions in English and had to return to Japanese from time to time, but I was easily able to understand what they said. At one point, they asked if I had a girlfriend. They were surprised that I did not since they both thought I was handsome! - If the beginning of the Japanese school year will bring random girls who think I am handsome to me, let's get it started already! - Their English was actually quite good with the exception of their heavy Japanese accentation of syllables that don't need the extra sound. (You can see my house-u from-u the gate-o) After we talked for awhile, they had to go and I returned to my game in waiting for class.
After class, as soon as I got home, Nabil and Einar hoisted me away to Hirakata station. We were looking for someplace to eat when Nabil suggested that we go to an Indian restaurant that he had eaten at before. Neither I nor Einar knew what we wanted to get, so Nabil decided we should go with the meal set. The set cost about $30 per person, which I expressed that I was not thrilled to pay, so Nabil said he would pay $60 worth (because he likes spending money or something).
We started with some salad which was very good. Next came some potato-like things wrapped in a triangle (yes, I forgot the name). I wasn't too into the potato things because they were spicy and whatever gave them the spice had an odd taste. I eventually finished the whole thing though. Next came some chicken. I assumed that the red color they had indicated that they too were spicy, and indeed they were (note that Michael spicy is much more mild than most would call spicy). After that, the spice went away with the bread called nan (I remember that one!) and curry. I enjoyed the bread and curry greatly. Lastly, we were given some mango icecream to finish off the meal. I had some sort of yogurt drink with the meal that proved quite effective against the spice. It was a nice experience, but I would go there only so often since the price is so high.
After dinner, we all went to Ring to do more karaoke. I did several songs that Nabil felt obligated to clap after I finished. I also did some Japanese songs from Kana and Ayumi that I was able to keep up with fairly well. After we sang for three hours, we did some table tennis before walking back home.
At home, I had to enlist the help of my sister, Julianne/Julie/Jukums, to see if I could register for my classes back at CSU. As I feared, neither my advisor, nor the administrative staff in the business department removed my advising hold despite my having asked them to several days/weeks ago. I am now left worrying about how on earth I will register for my classes since no one from CSU seems to care about me now that I am abroad. Hopefully, it will all work out.
As a last note, I need to think of a topic to speak about concerning American culture. I am really clueless about what would be interesting for Japanese students to hear about, but I really would like to present something. Please please please send me ideas!
After noticing them, they asked if I could help them practice English if I wasn't busy. Of course, I was glad to talk with them instead of play games, and I cooly shut my DS to show that I would talk with them. They were freshmen who would be starting school next week. They asked me various questions in English and had to return to Japanese from time to time, but I was easily able to understand what they said. At one point, they asked if I had a girlfriend. They were surprised that I did not since they both thought I was handsome! - If the beginning of the Japanese school year will bring random girls who think I am handsome to me, let's get it started already! - Their English was actually quite good with the exception of their heavy Japanese accentation of syllables that don't need the extra sound. (You can see my house-u from-u the gate-o) After we talked for awhile, they had to go and I returned to my game in waiting for class.
After class, as soon as I got home, Nabil and Einar hoisted me away to Hirakata station. We were looking for someplace to eat when Nabil suggested that we go to an Indian restaurant that he had eaten at before. Neither I nor Einar knew what we wanted to get, so Nabil decided we should go with the meal set. The set cost about $30 per person, which I expressed that I was not thrilled to pay, so Nabil said he would pay $60 worth (because he likes spending money or something).
We started with some salad which was very good. Next came some potato-like things wrapped in a triangle (yes, I forgot the name). I wasn't too into the potato things because they were spicy and whatever gave them the spice had an odd taste. I eventually finished the whole thing though. Next came some chicken. I assumed that the red color they had indicated that they too were spicy, and indeed they were (note that Michael spicy is much more mild than most would call spicy). After that, the spice went away with the bread called nan (I remember that one!) and curry. I enjoyed the bread and curry greatly. Lastly, we were given some mango icecream to finish off the meal. I had some sort of yogurt drink with the meal that proved quite effective against the spice. It was a nice experience, but I would go there only so often since the price is so high.
After dinner, we all went to Ring to do more karaoke. I did several songs that Nabil felt obligated to clap after I finished. I also did some Japanese songs from Kana and Ayumi that I was able to keep up with fairly well. After we sang for three hours, we did some table tennis before walking back home.
At home, I had to enlist the help of my sister, Julianne/Julie/Jukums, to see if I could register for my classes back at CSU. As I feared, neither my advisor, nor the administrative staff in the business department removed my advising hold despite my having asked them to several days/weeks ago. I am now left worrying about how on earth I will register for my classes since no one from CSU seems to care about me now that I am abroad. Hopefully, it will all work out.
As a last note, I need to think of a topic to speak about concerning American culture. I am really clueless about what would be interesting for Japanese students to hear about, but I really would like to present something. Please please please send me ideas!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Random Trips and Lessons Learned
I spent the majority of Tuesday afternoon looking through my Human Resources book/packet in prepartation for both the upcoming test and the upcoming study session I had with my Japanese classmates Yusuke, Yuko, and Nozomi. Being that English is their second language, I would naturally become a sort of 'teacher' for them instead of us just studying.
In addition to studying, I also had a meeting with my assigned group from International Negotiation about our upcoming negotiation for the next day. Our Dutch counterpart, Neils, had reportedly fallen ill with some sort of stomach problem and was unable to attend, so I proceded with the preparations with my Chinese counterpart, Wei. As we looked at the information we were given, it became apparent that this would not be an easy negotiation, as much of the information was unknown from the other side, while also being necessary for planning. Our meeting was short-lived, and I couldn't help but notice that our opposing team was in the lounge planning for nearly the whole afternoon.
In the evening, Nabil showed up and randomly suggested that we go to karaoke. We all figured that we might as well and we made way as our gaijin crew consisting of myself, Nabil, Einar, and this time Todd. To reminisce on some missed pictures from last time, there was Einar and I and Nabil and I. Aside from the tone-deaf Arab (who actually sounded better this time) and the Arnold Schwarzenegger impressionist (who sounded the same), Todd took on a fake heavy metal tone of voice, though he didn't seem to be trying very hard. The experience turned out to cost what I thought was an exorbitant amount. Fortunately/unfortunately, Nabil had promised us that he would treat us to karaoke. I said that next time we should go to the other karaoke place since we could wind up with half the price for the same thing.
Wednesday brought new activities to deal with as the day progressed. First, we were to have another negotiation meeting in attempt to talk with everyone in the group. After neither of them showed up on time, I went to have lunch, during which, Wei called me to say he would be late. When I returned to the lounge, I found Neils working on an essay. He had described his experience the previous day as needing to be within ten seconds from a toilet all day and getting a shot from the hospital in order to quell his stomach. After awhile, Wei showed up and we talked about the negotiation a little bit until they both had to go to class. I didn't feel like we had a solid plan, which was unfortunate since that was the last chance we had to meet before class.
Almost immediately after our negotiation meeting ended, my study session for Human Resources began. During the session, I pointed out several points that I thought were important for the test, as well as explained several of the concepts to my Japanese friends. Before long, it was time for me to go to class and attempt the negotiation. I was able to finish going over the material for our test just in time before leaving.
The negotiation was interesting. My team was to role-play an American company that had been bought out by a Japanese company. Our goal was to keep our freestyle work environment in tact which was an interesting feat considering that most American companies are not even that free. Our opposing team consisted of three Japanese girls who were to represent the Japanese company. To make matters more interesting, the teacher had rented some video cameras for us to record our negotiation.
The negotiation itself was so long that we ran out of tape. It seemed that our team, despite not having discussed the negotiation that much, was able to work together towards common goals. I would many times want to add something, but another member would start talking about it before I got the chance. Despite our easy flow of words, the Japanese side had to break away from us several times to discuss certain aspects together before telling us what they thought. In the end, we came to an agreement that we were both able to be happy with - two hours after we began.
After discovering that we were probably the last group to finish, I decided that we might as well make something of our meeting and I declaired 'Nijikai!,' which means second meeting - typically for eating out together. And so we all headed to a Japanese-style restaurant where we shared a variety of different dishes. In total, our meal cost about $30... for six people, coming out to about $5 per person.
After returning home, it was time for my words from Monday to come back at me. I bet my roommates the rough equivalent of $100 that they couldn't drink a 1.5 liter bottle of soda within a certain time limit without burping until the end, at which point they had to exhale a single burp and no more. I was joking about the bet, but they were adamant about doing it.
Todd was up first with a twenty minute limit, which I thought was unreasonable. His strategy seemed strange, as he was making odd noises as he progressed. As it turned out, he was cheating by burping through his nose while swallowing. His mischief did not help him though, as he reached the point where he could no longer hide his gastric sounds.
Einar took his shot next with a much more admirable time limit of five minutes. Since his time limit was so low, Todd also threw in his $100 bet. Einar seemed intent on following the rules as he gulped down the soda like a machine. For some odd reason, he felt it necessary to have a conversation with Todd while he was on the spot. After he got about halfway through, he had to hunch over to take a break and walk around for a little while. As he moved back toward the bottle, he began shaking his head to indicate that it was over and he exploded. He was upset that he had just eaten prior to the contest, and he demanded a retry on Friday. Since I didn't want to bet $100 in the first place, I took the opportunity for readjustment and downed my offer to $20. I think I will enjoy the experience more now that I don't have to pay an unfair amount of money when I have only something to lose.
In addition to studying, I also had a meeting with my assigned group from International Negotiation about our upcoming negotiation for the next day. Our Dutch counterpart, Neils, had reportedly fallen ill with some sort of stomach problem and was unable to attend, so I proceded with the preparations with my Chinese counterpart, Wei. As we looked at the information we were given, it became apparent that this would not be an easy negotiation, as much of the information was unknown from the other side, while also being necessary for planning. Our meeting was short-lived, and I couldn't help but notice that our opposing team was in the lounge planning for nearly the whole afternoon.
In the evening, Nabil showed up and randomly suggested that we go to karaoke. We all figured that we might as well and we made way as our gaijin crew consisting of myself, Nabil, Einar, and this time Todd. To reminisce on some missed pictures from last time, there was Einar and I and Nabil and I. Aside from the tone-deaf Arab (who actually sounded better this time) and the Arnold Schwarzenegger impressionist (who sounded the same), Todd took on a fake heavy metal tone of voice, though he didn't seem to be trying very hard. The experience turned out to cost what I thought was an exorbitant amount. Fortunately/unfortunately, Nabil had promised us that he would treat us to karaoke. I said that next time we should go to the other karaoke place since we could wind up with half the price for the same thing.
Wednesday brought new activities to deal with as the day progressed. First, we were to have another negotiation meeting in attempt to talk with everyone in the group. After neither of them showed up on time, I went to have lunch, during which, Wei called me to say he would be late. When I returned to the lounge, I found Neils working on an essay. He had described his experience the previous day as needing to be within ten seconds from a toilet all day and getting a shot from the hospital in order to quell his stomach. After awhile, Wei showed up and we talked about the negotiation a little bit until they both had to go to class. I didn't feel like we had a solid plan, which was unfortunate since that was the last chance we had to meet before class.
Almost immediately after our negotiation meeting ended, my study session for Human Resources began. During the session, I pointed out several points that I thought were important for the test, as well as explained several of the concepts to my Japanese friends. Before long, it was time for me to go to class and attempt the negotiation. I was able to finish going over the material for our test just in time before leaving.
The negotiation was interesting. My team was to role-play an American company that had been bought out by a Japanese company. Our goal was to keep our freestyle work environment in tact which was an interesting feat considering that most American companies are not even that free. Our opposing team consisted of three Japanese girls who were to represent the Japanese company. To make matters more interesting, the teacher had rented some video cameras for us to record our negotiation.
The negotiation itself was so long that we ran out of tape. It seemed that our team, despite not having discussed the negotiation that much, was able to work together towards common goals. I would many times want to add something, but another member would start talking about it before I got the chance. Despite our easy flow of words, the Japanese side had to break away from us several times to discuss certain aspects together before telling us what they thought. In the end, we came to an agreement that we were both able to be happy with - two hours after we began.
After discovering that we were probably the last group to finish, I decided that we might as well make something of our meeting and I declaired 'Nijikai!,' which means second meeting - typically for eating out together. And so we all headed to a Japanese-style restaurant where we shared a variety of different dishes. In total, our meal cost about $30... for six people, coming out to about $5 per person.
After returning home, it was time for my words from Monday to come back at me. I bet my roommates the rough equivalent of $100 that they couldn't drink a 1.5 liter bottle of soda within a certain time limit without burping until the end, at which point they had to exhale a single burp and no more. I was joking about the bet, but they were adamant about doing it.
Todd was up first with a twenty minute limit, which I thought was unreasonable. His strategy seemed strange, as he was making odd noises as he progressed. As it turned out, he was cheating by burping through his nose while swallowing. His mischief did not help him though, as he reached the point where he could no longer hide his gastric sounds.
Einar took his shot next with a much more admirable time limit of five minutes. Since his time limit was so low, Todd also threw in his $100 bet. Einar seemed intent on following the rules as he gulped down the soda like a machine. For some odd reason, he felt it necessary to have a conversation with Todd while he was on the spot. After he got about halfway through, he had to hunch over to take a break and walk around for a little while. As he moved back toward the bottle, he began shaking his head to indicate that it was over and he exploded. He was upset that he had just eaten prior to the contest, and he demanded a retry on Friday. Since I didn't want to bet $100 in the first place, I took the opportunity for readjustment and downed my offer to $20. I think I will enjoy the experience more now that I don't have to pay an unfair amount of money when I have only something to lose.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Sore Throats
On Saturday, I was set to meet Kazuki, who had purchased some Japanese sweets for me while he was in Tokyo (since we had been discussing how we both like sweets earlier). I decided to bring him some American candy in return for the gift. I figured that a simple exchange of candies would not make a useful meeting, so I pressed for another activity. Agreeing to the notion, Kazuki and I went to a local department store to look around. I picked out some items that I thought were interesting before we headed out to look for something to eat. After dinner, we opted to go to Ring, where we did some more karaoke.
This karaoke experience was different from the last in two ways: first, Kazuki is able to sing on key, and second, my voice had a much more raspy quality to it that made singing a little more challenging. Needless to say, by the end of our activity, my voice was set to call it quits. After we left Ring, we parted ways as we each went home.
I spent Sunday talking to various people though email. I was able to set up a transaction for a fairly rare set of Japanese items that shall remain unsaid for gift-giving purposes with someone I met through a Japanese website. It was surprising to me that she offered to pay for the items in advance for me, especially since we had never actually met in person. I will have to advise her to be wary of doing such a thing in the future, as some people may not actually pay her back.
Monday
Today's most interesting event was that my friend Eri came to ask me for help in pronouncing English words. She explained that she had to give a speech to the new Japanese students at Kansai Gaidai in English and she wanted to say everything correctly. After going through the speech I was pleased to tell her that all she had to work on was the 'th' sound and when to use 'r' and 'l'. I think she will just have to wing the word 'program' since she can only say 'proglam' or 'plogram'. After our session, she said now all she had to worry about was her sore throat from the cold she caught.
For dinner, Nabil and I rode down to Makino. By 'rode', I mean that I got on the back part of his bike and held on for dear life as he rode from the school to Makino (about a 30 minute walk). Fortunately, he did not pull any stunts like the last time I rode on the bike and did not speed down any hills while I tried to wish myself to another planet. That did not keep my hindquarters from becoming quite sore from the metal protrusion that I was situated upon. It was a flat surface, but it was a series of metal stripes instead of a plate. I was glad to arrive and depart without a scratch.
This karaoke experience was different from the last in two ways: first, Kazuki is able to sing on key, and second, my voice had a much more raspy quality to it that made singing a little more challenging. Needless to say, by the end of our activity, my voice was set to call it quits. After we left Ring, we parted ways as we each went home.
I spent Sunday talking to various people though email. I was able to set up a transaction for a fairly rare set of Japanese items that shall remain unsaid for gift-giving purposes with someone I met through a Japanese website. It was surprising to me that she offered to pay for the items in advance for me, especially since we had never actually met in person. I will have to advise her to be wary of doing such a thing in the future, as some people may not actually pay her back.
Monday
Today's most interesting event was that my friend Eri came to ask me for help in pronouncing English words. She explained that she had to give a speech to the new Japanese students at Kansai Gaidai in English and she wanted to say everything correctly. After going through the speech I was pleased to tell her that all she had to work on was the 'th' sound and when to use 'r' and 'l'. I think she will just have to wing the word 'program' since she can only say 'proglam' or 'plogram'. After our session, she said now all she had to worry about was her sore throat from the cold she caught.
For dinner, Nabil and I rode down to Makino. By 'rode', I mean that I got on the back part of his bike and held on for dear life as he rode from the school to Makino (about a 30 minute walk). Fortunately, he did not pull any stunts like the last time I rode on the bike and did not speed down any hills while I tried to wish myself to another planet. That did not keep my hindquarters from becoming quite sore from the metal protrusion that I was situated upon. It was a flat surface, but it was a series of metal stripes instead of a plate. I was glad to arrive and depart without a scratch.
The Night of the Gaijin
Friday
Up to this point, there has never been a night that I went out with a group of people that did not include a Japanese person. Tonight, all of that changed. It was me, Nabil, and Einar who went as a unisoned trio out to town. By Nabil's suggestion, we embarked on a course to Round One; his apparently favorite place in all of Japan.
As if compelled by divine will, Nabil instantly made his first stop the golf area as is customary of all of his visits to the entertainment center. Since the activity is not multiplayer friendly, we split our unison as I guided Einar to the arcade section of the facility. We began our adventure by playing a guitar-based game that was very similar to guitar hero, but much simpler. After wallowing through our three songs, we moved on to participate in a drum game that I had also seen in America. Next, we participated in a short DDR session. By the time, Nabil had rejoined us, but by the time our game was over, he had disappeared to play tennis against a machine. Einar and I played a few more games before Nabil joined us again and we all went to play table-tennis/ping-pong.
Our experience was hightened by setting up a game that could include all three of us - circle tennis. This game consisted of each person running around the table in a circle in attempt to hit the ball before it falls to the floor. After doing this for a good while, we decided to take turns having matches. Once we concluded our matches, we made our way to the outdoor sports area. We spent the rest of our time there before it was time to go. From there, we returned to Hirakata station to eat.
After dinner, we sat in the station wondering if our night out was over. It was about 10:00pm. There were two people who set up some instruments and started singing. Let's call it a jury-rigged rig. What these two people accomplished was giving Nabil the idea to have us continue our venture and go to karaoke.
We made our way to the karaoke studio that I went to with Saki and friends, hoping that it would still be open. We discovered that not only was it open, but it was also bustling. We became worried that we might not be able to get a room. Einar, being our senior expert of Japanese, went forth to attempt to set up our event. We opted for a two hour stay and were led to our room.
The actual singing experience was an unforgettable event that I will perhaps be scarred by for a long time to come. Picture a tone-deaf Arab and Arnold Schwarzenegger attempting to sing classic songs through the ages. It was actually quite amusing to watch while hoping that one does not develop a headache from listening to it. Early on, Nabil had expressed his expectation that I would have miraculous skill in singing. When I started my song, I was greeted by sounds of delight as I attempted to mimic the orginal singer of the songs.
After we sang a few numbers, we changed tracks and began attempting some Japanese songs. For the most part, we found it very difficult to keep up with the Japanese words as the songs progressed. I had picked a particularly difficult song to attempt since the words were very fast. After muttering through most of the words, we went back to singing English songs until our time expired. From there, we walked back home and brought our night to a close.
Up to this point, there has never been a night that I went out with a group of people that did not include a Japanese person. Tonight, all of that changed. It was me, Nabil, and Einar who went as a unisoned trio out to town. By Nabil's suggestion, we embarked on a course to Round One; his apparently favorite place in all of Japan.
As if compelled by divine will, Nabil instantly made his first stop the golf area as is customary of all of his visits to the entertainment center. Since the activity is not multiplayer friendly, we split our unison as I guided Einar to the arcade section of the facility. We began our adventure by playing a guitar-based game that was very similar to guitar hero, but much simpler. After wallowing through our three songs, we moved on to participate in a drum game that I had also seen in America. Next, we participated in a short DDR session. By the time, Nabil had rejoined us, but by the time our game was over, he had disappeared to play tennis against a machine. Einar and I played a few more games before Nabil joined us again and we all went to play table-tennis/ping-pong.
Our experience was hightened by setting up a game that could include all three of us - circle tennis. This game consisted of each person running around the table in a circle in attempt to hit the ball before it falls to the floor. After doing this for a good while, we decided to take turns having matches. Once we concluded our matches, we made our way to the outdoor sports area. We spent the rest of our time there before it was time to go. From there, we returned to Hirakata station to eat.
After dinner, we sat in the station wondering if our night out was over. It was about 10:00pm. There were two people who set up some instruments and started singing. Let's call it a jury-rigged rig. What these two people accomplished was giving Nabil the idea to have us continue our venture and go to karaoke.
We made our way to the karaoke studio that I went to with Saki and friends, hoping that it would still be open. We discovered that not only was it open, but it was also bustling. We became worried that we might not be able to get a room. Einar, being our senior expert of Japanese, went forth to attempt to set up our event. We opted for a two hour stay and were led to our room.
The actual singing experience was an unforgettable event that I will perhaps be scarred by for a long time to come. Picture a tone-deaf Arab and Arnold Schwarzenegger attempting to sing classic songs through the ages. It was actually quite amusing to watch while hoping that one does not develop a headache from listening to it. Early on, Nabil had expressed his expectation that I would have miraculous skill in singing. When I started my song, I was greeted by sounds of delight as I attempted to mimic the orginal singer of the songs.
After we sang a few numbers, we changed tracks and began attempting some Japanese songs. For the most part, we found it very difficult to keep up with the Japanese words as the songs progressed. I had picked a particularly difficult song to attempt since the words were very fast. After muttering through most of the words, we went back to singing English songs until our time expired. From there, we walked back home and brought our night to a close.
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