June 6th-Title
I’d
say that that’s a “working title.” I
don’t really know what to call this journal entry because I guess I have stuff
to write about, but there’s no one single topic that is worthy of claiming the
title of….title. Heheheh…I crack myself
up when I make lame jokes. Want to hear
another lame joke that I GUARANTEE you will not laugh at. It’s one of those things that my weird sense
of humor just found highly amusing and if I tell you, you won’t get it and it
won’t be funny. I feel like being
stupid so I’ll just tell you anyway. So
this is a few weeks ago and I’m just sitting in home economics class at school
and a little metal bar that was supporting to of the legs of my chair simply
falls of the chair and lands on the floor with a clunk. No one else noticed it and the chair didn’t
collapse or anything like that, so I just left it there on the floor. I was going to pick it up when I figured out
what to do with it, but I just left it there for the time being. Well, a period or two went by and the little
metal bar was still on the floor. We
had been sitting in little groups for some of the class work. When the class was over we put our desks
back into rows. The girl sitting next
to me noticed the little metal bar on the floor, bent down, and picked up. She looked at it for a moment, then smiled
and said, “格好いい！”(kakkouii)
What is funny to me about this is the meaning and common usage of
“kakkouii.” The word means, “looks
cool.” However, it is most often used
to describe a really good-looking guy.
So, it’s like…she picked up a stubby metal bar she found on the floor
and said, “That’s so hot!” HAHAHAHA…I
was chuckling there for about 5 minutes over that one. Are you laughing? No? Good…you’re
sane. I don’t know if the same can be
said for your son/friend/relative/me.
Ok, I just got off
the phone with Hiromi Satou (my good friend in Osaka). We talked for 40 minutes. So, now it’s late and I want to go to
sleep. I’m meeting my new host family tomorrow
morning so I should probably go to sleep, eh?
Just two things I want to mention before I go. One, today is the 59th anniversary of Operation
Overlord (landing on Normandy Beach etc…) and…it is also the 1 year anniversary
of that prom I went to at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel with my friend Leslie
Chung! That was so much fun! Well, I’m glad I got to go to a prom so I
know what it’s like. I certainly won’t
be able to go to my own prom…so…well….that’s unfortunate but I’ll survive. Ok, no more babble, I’m going to sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Ok, it’s tomorrow…11:13pm
to be exact. I won’t bother talking
about today right now. For the time
being I’m just going to copy and paste something that I wrote this morning as
soon as I woke up around 8:30. Why did
I start writing around 8:30am? Well, I
had a VERY strange dream last night. I
must have woken up instantly after I had it because I remembered it very
well. I laid in bed with my eyes closed
for about 5 minutes replaying the dream over and over again in my head as best
I could, so when I opened my eyes I wouldn’t instantly forget it. I remembered Mr. Vasarkovy (psych teacher)
told us that dreams are kept in the short-term memory part of the brain so
after you have a dream, as soon as you think of something else, it’s instantly
gone. I didn’t want to forget it, so I
kept thinking about it, discarded other thoughts that were creeping in and just
typed! Here is what I typed:
I just had a very strange dream. As I’m writing this my eyes are closed so I don’t forget what I dreamed about. In my dream I was in Japan. I was visiting a kindergarten class and I was with my sister Mary. The strange thing about the class was that it was my real kindergarten class from Christ Church Day School when I was young. What made things even more strange was that I (my younger self…about 3 or 4 years old) was actually in the class. Mary and I were talking to the kids about a bunch of different things…telling them about the differences between what young American and young Japanese kids look like in their fashion. I, my younger self, was wearing corduroy pants and a red flannel sweater. This was pointed out as being very American. I remember that my older self, when looking at my younger self thought that my younger self looked very silly…maybe more like a lumberjack that a kindergarten kid. We pointed out another kid who was wearing all denim clothes, but I don’t remember what we said about him. Then we started talking about how it’s like growing up with your twin…the way I was there and my younger self was there too. I think this happened because my parents downloaded my twin off the Internet on the KazaA file-sharing program. My sister couldn’t get a younger version of herself, because, although my parents had queued the download, it hadn’t started and they knew it never would. Then I thought about what it might be like if me and my double could be buried together and I imagined us lying next to each other inside my grave. While I was thinking this, I went over to myself, kneeled down and I gave myself (small self) a hug. I don’t know if I said anything to myself, but I tried to pick him up but he was too heavy so I let him go. It was then that the first alarm went off. It said something like, “Launch in 15 minutes!” It was one of those very automated electronic voices. It was like the one in the end of the movie Aliens. Instantly everyone started running around and going nuts. The teachers started telling everyone to get their stuff together and people were running out of the room and down the stairs. I really didn’t know what was going on and my double had disappeared with the other children. At last the final countdown came and Mary and I were still there though and she was trying to get me to leave with everyone else. I didn’t want to leave anything behind so I got the garbage bag I had been carrying with me and a bag with just old clothes and school stuff in it and I got the contents of my double’s desk into the bag. I didn’t want to leave it there because I’m very sentimental about things from my childhood. When I had gotten the three bags of junk together the voice was saying there were 10 minutes before detonation. At that pointed I knew I had to run. Everyone was going out the classroom and down the stairs on the outside of the building. I had lost Mary by that point but I knew she would find her own way. We all ran over to a much newer looking building made out of concrete. It looked like a gymnasium of some kind but we didn’t go in. We just all lined up and waited on the overpass-like walkway that led to it from the top of the stairs. By this point I had figured out from what people were saying that some kind of bomb was going to go off. Also, the automated voice had been doing a countdown to a detonation…so…there’s not much confusion about what it might be. I gathered my bags and I just crouched on the floor of the overpass behind the low wall with everyone else.
It was dusk by that point and above the city we could see in
the distance through the haze was blanketed with fluffy gray clouds and an
orangey red sunset. I had also figured
out at this point that this was Los Angeles.
I started to worry a lot because I didn’t know if what was about to
happen would interfere with my starting college or not. I didn’t want there to be a disaster that
would force me to defer college or go some place else. I grabbed a pair of sunglasses and I put
them on in case any debris was flying around and I covered my face with my
hands. Then suddenly all around me
there was a tremendous burst of light that seemed to go through my hands and
poured through the cracks in my fingers and around my hands. I knew then that
it was a nuclear bomb. As the blinding
light started to die down a bit I removed my hands and looked at the city that
had been maybe 20 or 30 miles away.
There was an enormous bluish white mushroom cloud rising over the entire
area. As it billowed up towards the
sky, massive bluish shockwaves, like giant rings, flew across the sky and
dissipated just before they reached where we were. A few moments later we heard the tremendous roaring boom and a
blast of hot burnt air rushed over us.
We could see burning debris flying up into the atmosphere. At that point everyone started running
inside the building. There was a gate
to get into the complex of buildings around the gymnasium type building. We all rushed in there and everyone
disappeared. Inside, around the gym
there were also many small houses that were like traditional Japanese houses
made of the wood and straw. I saw a
young girl, Japanese, and her clothes were burnt in many places and she seemed
dazed as she got off the ground. Other
than that she seemed to be ok. I went
around to the front of the buildings with my stuff and sat down on a bench
where many people had gathered to sit in shock. A little girl came up to me and she looked very scared and
helpless as if she didn’t know what to do.
She asked if she could sit on the benches in front of me. I suggested that she sit on the bench next
to me because one of the guys from the boat team was sitting there and I
thought he might be better at comforting her than I would be. In my dream he was much closer to her
age…maybe 9 or 10. So she went over and
sat with him. At that point I said
something very wise and infinite to someone near me…but…I forgot what that
was. Ok, that’s all I can
remember.
Now, tell me that’s not weird! I
really don’t know how to interpret that one.
Well, I can understand where certain things came from….but…why they all
came together like that…I really don’t know.
I wish I could have some cool dream that I might have a chance of
understanding…like…maybe…one where I’m walking through a forest and I come to a
clearing and there’s a dirty blind man sitting by a fire laughing. I ask him why he’s laughing and he tells me
an answer to a question I don’t know and then I wake up. And then, that same day there is some problem
and I realize what the question was and I know what to do. Now that would be useful! A long time ago those Greek and Roman dudes
and whatnot really relied heavily on that sort of stuff for planning campaigns
and military actions. That was convenient
because the Gods could appear in their dreams and actually manipulate them by
giving them real answers and whatnot.
If those guys were having my dreams, they wouldn’t get anywhere. Ok, it’s late and I should go to sleep. I’ve got an action packed day tomorrow….I
hope. Byebye.
Ok, I think I’d like to highlight and briefly (hahaha…that’s a laugh!…this
is ME!) what’s been going on lately and then I’d like to publish this journal
entry. I’ve had it for too long and I
need to add one to the site. Ok…so…let’s
take one thing at a time. Let’s go with
boat club first! Ok, so I haven’t
really been doing much with boat club recently. On Saturday I couldn’t go to the meet because I had to go meet my
new host family in the morning. On
Sunday though I went to practice of course.
Unfortunately I was stuff in the single scull again. Speaking of sculls…I think there should be a
skull and crossbones painted on the side of the single scull boats. There really aren’t many things in this
world that I truly despise…this single scull has become one of those
things. No, I didn’t fall out again—I
made sure of that. I had no fun at all
though because I was moving so slowly and being so cautious to make sure that I
wouldn’t fall out that I was hardly doing anything. I actually spent most of the time just kind of sitting in the
boat…very still…firmly gripping the oars and drifting with the tide and the
wind. Every once in a while I would be
forced to adjust myself so I wouldn’t get in other peoples’ ways or drift too
far away from the launching point and have to row all the way back. I’ve decided that that boat is REALLY JUST
TOO REDICULOUS! It’s the most infernal
aquatic craft ever created! Now, I’m
sure for people who actually know what they’re doing…it’s great and loads of
fun…but for me: it’s a curse. Let me
give you an idea of how stupid it is.
It is so hard to stay balanced that, if I move the oars….at all…even
laterally over the surface of the water without even turning them so the blades
are pointed vertically—I start to tip over.
Essentially…if I move…at all…there’s a decent chance I’ll fall out. I’m not being extreme about this either…it’s
really that bad. Maybe the prospect of
falling out of the boat wouldn’t be such a stigma with me if…ohhh…let’s say….THERE
WEREN’T DEAD FISH FLOATING IN THE WATER!!!!!!
Two months ago the water looked relatively clean, but now it’s very very
common to see bloated white fish bobbing up and down in the little waves and
being devoured by insects on the sandy area.
People said before that the water was clean…but the presence of dead
animals (little birds too) really creates quite a strong argument to the
contrary for me. It’s a little
perplexing because there is wildlife there.
There are dozens and dozens of fish that frequently fly out of the water
(catching bugs I assume) and they seem to be happy. On the sand there are many many many tiny crabs that dart into
their holes when your feet approach, and there are tiny fish in the water by
the shallow areas too. I’m sorry if I’m
just a bit squeamish, but the idea of me landing in the water and a squishy
half-eaten dead fish floating by me is not my idea of a good time. If the water were nice and pretty and if it
were way to hot…why do I care if I fall in?
I might even jump in just to get out of the boat! Ok, yeah, I’m gonna stop whining now. Today we didn’t have boat practice because
apparently we’re tired from the meet that was held on Saturday. Well, I’m not tired because I didn’t go, but
that’s another story. So, in the time
after school today I had wanted to take myself to see The Matrix Reloaded because
I hadn’t gotten to see it over the weekend like I’d planned to. I again didn’t get to see it because we had
another lame stupid pointless assembly during sixth period that ran the school
day about 45 minutes longer than usual thus making it impossible for me to see
the movie. I hate the school
assemblies. They’re such a waste of
time. I can’t see how they can try and
make people care and how anyone can care enough to actually want to put any
time at all into these things. It’s
never anything important at all and the simplest things take forever. Today there was the presentation of
certificates, trophies, and flags to people from our school that had won
certain events at the Miyazaki High School Athletic Conference.
Ok, well, aside from that, I used my extra time today to go to the post
office to exchange some more travelers’ checks and I mailed Ben his birthday
present (a week after his B-day hahaha).
It was raining like crazy of course and today was another day when I
swam home while carrying my bike…rather like how I dragged my boat through the
water last week when I fell out of it.
Anyway, recently I haven’t been able to get in a good workout. Nothing happened this weekend in the way of
exercise. Today I couldn’t do anything
because it was raining like the dickens.
I would have liked to go for a run, but I’m not dumb enough to run in
the pouring rain. I’m afraid that
tomorrow is also supposed to be like today.
AHHHH! I’m supposed to start
with the archery tomorrow…but…for some reason I don’t really want to. I just feel that I won’t really get much of
a workout at all if I just sit and watch people shoot arrows around. And even if I were actually participating,
it’s not like it’s such a great workout.
It appears to be about as tough a workout as playing billiards is. I went with my host father on Saturday to
his fitness club. It was pretty small
and pathetic and it was full of ugly old people, but we still got a decent
workout. We did a lot of cardio
stuff…like…20 minutes on the stair-stepper, 20 minutes on the bike machine, 20
minutes on the treadmill. We lifted
weights for a tiny bit and then did laps in the pool. So, that was good. I need
to do that kind of thing every day so I don’t become a jumbo again like I will
unless I get serious and get serious fast!
Last week I went for a 2 hour run that included about 20-30 minutes of
walking. I think I overdid it because I
just ran out of energy towards the end and I had to walk. I also didn’t plan the run very well and
ended up having no idea where I was.
So, when I realized I was probably heading towards Kagoshima (next
largest city to the south) I did the sensible thing, turned around, and went
back the way I came. My left ankle is a
little sore too…but I don’t think it’s from that run. Maybe it will feel better tomorrow. Ok, I was going to talk about the scary thing that I saw today,
but I’m too tired to do that now so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow…errr…I
mean…a few lines down from this one. I
will have to wait until tomorrow to write it.
Yeah, ok, so it’s tomorrow already.
Wasn’t that fast?!?!? What did
that take? 2 seconds? Woah!
So today was Tuesday wooohoooo!
Anyway, before I start talking about other things, let me get to that
thing I was going to write about a few lines ago. So yesterday when I was going home after going to the post office
I saw something pretty scary but really not surprising. Ok, so you know mopeds? The kind that are like a little motorcycle
except the person’s legs are forward, side-by-side instead of straddling the
bike? Yeah, well, there are TONS of
those things in Japan and Miyazaki is no exception. I would say that they are probably the most dangerous things on
the road—for themselves, for people on bikes, and for people in cars. Why are they so dangerous? Well, their design provides no protection
whatsoever to the rider and they really make up their own rules for the
road. They don’t think they have to
follow the car rules and they don’t think they have to follow bike rules
either, so they make a combination of both.
It’s really quite frustrating and makes me mad sometimes because when
the car rules don’t suit them, they just come into bike territory. For example, if there is too much traffic
they will just cut into the shoulder of the road or even go onto the sidewalk
(areas meant for bikes…or pedestrians in the case of the sidewalk). They don’t beep or signal in any way and
just act like they’re the only ones on the road. Well, this is also very dangerous for them because, they are, of
course, not the only ones on the road, and they are certainly not the largest
objects on the road. So, what is bound
to happen? Yes, an accident. And that is what I saw yesterday. So, I’m riding home and I’m approaching an
intersection and another person on a bike suddenly slowed to a stop and started
turning around. I quickly stopped to
avoid a collision and gave the rider a dirty look. Then I saw a small gray car stopped, pulled half way up onto one
of the corners of the intersection at an odd angle. There were a few people standing around and then I looked down
and saw what they were standing around.
Just off the intersection was a moped lying on its side. A few feet away from the moped was the
rider. He was lying on his side and
sort of bent at the waste with his head down.
He was clutching one of his forearms with the other hand and on the
ground underneath the forearm was a small pool of blood. He wasn’t moving at all but his head was
raised off the ground and he was half propped up on an elbow. Around him were, I assume the driver of the
small car, and some other people that looked like they might have come from the
stores nearby on the street because some of them had aprons on. Someone was holding an umbrella over the man
on the ground and as I rode by I heard him apologize for the rain. When I got about 50 feet past the accident
corner I stopped for a few moments and just looked back. I couldn’t really see much and there wasn’t
anything I could do so I just kept going.
I heard the sound of an ambulance siren approaching so I could only
assume it was for the guy. I’m not sure
who would feel worse in that situation: the person who was hit or the person
who hit? Obviously the hit person would
be in much more pain, but the person who did the hitting must feel absolutely
terrible and very stupid or angry. Ok,
I just thought I’d tell you about that.
Ok, speaking of accidents or near accidents, someone almost backed over
me yesterday…and….a couple people almost ran me over. I mean…in both instances, the cars were perhaps going 1 mph at
most…but still…it could have been unpleasant.
I don’t think getting hit by a car at any speed would make a person very
happy. Alright, I probably shouldn’t
talk about near accidents involving myself because I know my parents read this
and they’re gonna worry when there’s nothing they can do. Let’s move onto the next topic.
So…the latest news on me
is that I am a BEAST!
That’s a self-declared title I made for myself after I biked up the
entire hill (the monster one that I always go up on my way home from school)
entirely sitting down. Every time I
have made it up the hill in the past I was standing up on the peddles the whole
time so I could use my own weight more to push them down and not my leg muscles
as much. Well, this time I decided to
see if I could do it from a sitting position.
What’s more is that the seat on my bike is adjusted so it is as low as
it goes. Although this defies logic,
apparently it looks cooler, so that’s the way all the guys do it. I had my seat at a rational height until my
friends wouldn’t let me get on the bike until I adjusted it to a “kakkouii”
(see explanation of the word usages at the top of this journal entry)
height. Anyway, getting back to my
little accomplishment, I would assess that the properties of titanium or steel
most closely resemble the composition of my legs at this point. I really need to start running again, but
the weather has been totally lousy and my ankle was sore for a few days so I
have been avoiding it. Tomorrow I think
it’s supposed to just be cloudy and not necessarily raining without stopping. So, I might get lucky tomorrow. Also, my ankle doesn’t hurt anymore so
that’s good. Also, I didn’t get much of
a workout today because today I had my first day of practice at 弓道 (kyuudou) [traditional style
archery].
So at practice today for
archery we started out with 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups. That really didn’t take very long. After that we moved into practicing
with…errr…I don’t know what to call it, so I’ll just describe it. It’s a little piece of plastic that resembles
the grip of the bow. Attached at the
top is a thick rubber band that represents not only the tension that you
experience when you pull back the bow, but also the positioning of the arrow
itself. So, with this you can practice
your form and not worry about using a real bow. A bunch of different people helped me out and walked me through
all the steps from approaching the shooting area until you are done with your
shot. Of course it’s not as simple as
just pulling the string back and letting go.
There are actually 8 official steps (an extra one added for good
measure) and 10 names for the steps/positions.
I’ll give you the names here but I won’t bother trying to describe
them. Instead I’ll just look for a
picture of all the steps on the Internet and then post it when I get a
chance. So today I practice the form
and memorized the names for:
It’s a little bit hard for me to learn these names because for the most
part they don’t have any meaning to me.
So, it’s just like memorizing sounds instead real words with meaning
that might help me out when I put myself it the position that corresponds to
the name. Also, I have a feeling that
these are the same words that have been always used…or…at least that they’ve
been using these words for a long time.
I have this hunch because many of the readings of those characters are
not even listed in my character dictionary.
The characters are in there, but they aren’t listed as being read as the
way they are actually read. I am sure
that I have it right though because one of the people on the team wrote it all
out for me. Anyway, today I didn’t get
to hold the bow or shoot any arrows.
Maybe I’ll get to do that on Thursday if I get lucky. I’m very interested to see how hard it
actually is. Practice was over
late…past 7:30 and then a couple of the girls on the team were playing with my
phone for about 10 minutes trying to take a decent picture of the two of them
for me. On my way home I ended up being
able to ride home with one of the guys on the team because he lives in the same
neighborhood as me. Although I had my
entire rain suite with me, I only put the rain pants on. The top is really annoying and I just get
really sweaty inside it and sweat between vinyl and bare skin is not a good
feeling. It’s only water anyway so my
entire top just soaked in the rain. I
had the pants on because I actually have to wear those pants tomorrow and I
didn’t want them to be wet again tomorrow.
The shirt however I can change!
It was nice riding home with him because we had a good
conversation. Almost from the get-go
when we left school he wanted to do English conversation practice. I obliged but we didn’t get very far. He understood my simple answers easily
enough but when it came to him giving his own responses he ran into a lot of
trouble and ended up slipping into Japanese a lot of the time. So, what I started doing for him was giving
my answer in English, if he didn’t understand I would say it again more slowly,
and if he still didn’t get it I would say it in Japanese. We talked about all kinds of stuff from our
plans for the future, our families, love lives (or lack there of), and finally
the differences in Japanese and American high school student ways of life. I explained to him towards the end that
although many things for Japanese students are tougher than Americans have it,
I am glad I am having this experience because I wouldn’t be able to experience
anything like it if I hadn’t come to Japan.
I also explained that when I’m in Japan I can become someone I’m not—I
can become almost like a Japanese student in the way I am living my life
now. I used the example of our present
situation. I pointed out that if I
hadn’t come to Japan to live like a Japanese student, there is no way I would
ever be riding my bike up a wicked hill in the middle of the pouring rain when
it’s already dark out getting soaked while talking to a Japanese guy about
life. Ok, I’ll just talk briefly about
one more thing and then I’ll go to sleep.
Last Saturday I met my new host mother and my new host brother. My host mother seems very nice and outgoing
and very fair. My host brother was very
shy and I didn’t really talk to him (he’s only 4 years old). I didn’t get to meet my new host father
because he was out working (he’s a farmer).
I do like the new house. There
are only 3 people living in it (4 with me) and it’s really way larger than what
they need. My room in the new house is
about 3 times the size of my room here.
Not that I need all that much space, but it’s nice to not feel cramped,
you know? The house is also very new
(only 2 years old I think). I also have
my own toilet and my own sink. So I
guess this will mean that I won’t have to wait for Eri to get out of the bath
for me to brush my grubby little teeth.
Speaking of doing that, I’ll bet she did that to me again. Well, I’ll be out of here soon enough and
won’t have to worry about her anymore.
I’m moving on this Saturday. I
guess that means that I have to pack at some point….hmmmm. Well, I think things my run more smoothly at
the new house. They seem to be more
liberal and less inclined to give me a dorky 7:30 curfew for weekdays and
weekends. It seems that the only solid
thing that they would like is for me to hang out with them on Saturday
afternoons. Aside from that time, I can’t
really see them that much because of when I leave the house, when I get home,
and when they are busy during the week.
I guess that could get a little annoying if one of my 2 play days are
taken up by host family time. But, I guess
I can’t really complain if that’s all they’re really asking for. I’ll have to just let you all know how it’s
working out once I movie. Ok, I should
go to sleep now because it’s already waaaay too late for my own good. I’m hope you enjoyed reading the longest
journal entry I’ve written to date…thank you.
Hahahhaah…ok, I’m really gonna go now.
Crud…Eri just turned on the hair dryer in the bathroom downstairs. Ok…she doesn’t have that much hair at all,
but she’ll probably be drying it for about an hour. I’ve been thinking about something for the past couple of
days. Maybe this isn’t exactly the
nicest thing to say or talk about but I can’t help thinking it. I’ve been thinking about unattractive
people. I’ve noticed that unattractive
(or just ugly) people make great efforts to beautify themselves. For example…they’ll spend a long time
adjusting their makeup in the mirror or making sure their clothes look all right
or keeping an eye on skin blemishes.
What mystifies me is the fact that they make all this effort to beautify
themselves, when the truth is that even if all the things they were working on
were perfect; they would still be unattractive people. Is that too harsh? I know it sounds harsh, but I think it’s just a decent
observation. Take someone who is really
overweight. Even if their clothes look
great and their skin is flawless…they’re still fat and people probably won’t
find them attractive anyway. Like…if
you’re fat…don’t buy big pants or a big dress to accommodate yourself, get in
shape and then buy pants or a dress that will actually look good on you. I think people with that kind of avoidable
image problem simply skirt or ignore the issue because they lack the initiative
to fix the real problem. Instead they
do things that don’t take much effort to fix.
I know this has absolutely nothing to do with Japan but I just felt like
talking about that. Ok, I think Eri is
out of the bathroom, so I’d better move fast and get in there before she goes
in for round 3.
-Maikeru