So long and thanks for all the fish

If the date on the Termination of Tenancy Lease of my roommate is true then it looks like today might be my last day with computer access for a while! I'd like to get a laptop myself but I don't think I'll do anything till I end up getting my own apartment so who knows how long that will take. I actually have no idea where the closest internet cafe is so I probably won't be on too frequently-just mainly checking out my email and what not. Have no fear though, I will be back eventually and hopefully posting just as frequently as before-it'll be a frosty day in Hades when they can keep me off the internets!

Sayonnara for now

Way to tired to think of a catchy title

I normally try to think of some kind of good hook line for my posts but unfortunately the creative side of my brain just isn't turned on tonight. I suppose that's appropriate because there's really no focus to this particular post anyways.

I came sooo close today to handing in my notice of ending my tenancy sublease thingy. I don't think that's the official name but it's close enough. I have to give 30 days notice so my thinking was that I could find an apartment within 30 days. I still think I can but I chickened out for some reason. I suppose that if I couldn't find an apartment then I could always just call my school and cancel the notice. Maybe tomorrow I'll do it. I would definitely like to get out on my own and somewhere closer work and not to mention cheaper.

I've just gotten off my latest weekend. I didn't do too much but I did find out how expensive it is to date in a city like Tokyo. Especially when you're a chivalrous guy such as myself! I suppose that's just one of those things I'll just have to live with in my ongoing search for an interpreter...err girlfriend rather. I'll either have to get one or stop dating altogether lest my dreams of videogaming nirvana turn to dust!

Hmmm...I still have more to say I'm sure but I can't seem to get my train of thought. I'll try to post a couple of more times before the END. My computer-err roommate is moving to Ikebukero so I will be computerless and internetless for a while. That's another reason why I want to move out on my own. I want to find my own place so that I can start to accumulate stuff. That's been the very basis of our civilization since we turned from nomadic hunter/gathers into domestic farmers. I'm sure the first farmer said, "Hmm this permanent dwelling sure is a lot more comfortable than sleeping on a rock but it needs a bit more...stuff."
I'm sure his first purchase was the latest and greatest in computer technology of the time.

let me get to sleep

PS3 Revealed!!

Woke up today to find that the PS3 has been unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. If you haven't seen it already then this is what it looks like. I can't wait until it comes out so that I can finally buy it a year and a half later when it has finally dropped to a more reasonable price.

I got an email from my insurance company regarding my claim for going to the eye doctor. They sent all the appropriate forms and in the cover letter it states that all accompanying documentation must be translated into French or English. How in the HELL they expect me to translate a Japanese receipt is beyond me. They're the gaddamned insurance company they should be able to take care of that! Go get a japanese expert to confirm that it is indeed a receipt for an eye examination for God's sakes.

There was an article in my newspaper recently that talked about the Japanese adapting more casual wear for the summer to cut down on air conditioning costs. The government is trying to encourage companies to let their employees dress casually (ie without a jacket or tie.) According to the news article, this attempt is more than likely to fail not because of resistance from companies but actually from employees themselves. They just don't feel comfortable dressing casually for work. They'd rather stick with what they know and love. Strange way of thinking. I think Westerners would have no problem adopting those changes if only their employers would let them. People here love uniforms. I suppose it represents order or something. Everyone wears them from the highschool students to the train conductors to the person directing traffic in the grocery store parking lot.

The best part of the article is that it manages to come up with a description of young people's fashion that is far more eloquent than anything I could ever manage-not even with a million monkeys and a million typewriters. According to the article, Japan is a country where millions of young men and women dress in a riot of uninhibited fashion glee.

Oh Mr. Wallace, your beautiful prose brings tears to my eyes.

It's....PAYDAY!

Woohoo! Let the heavens be praised. My school has finally seen fit to provide me with some monetary compensation for my services. About time too! I wasn't seriously short of money like some people were before payday but it's still a nice feeling! So I have officially received the biggest paycheck I have ever been given! Granted, the main reason for this is because you only get paid once a month rather than bi-monthly or every week like I did in Canada. But I still made more in one month than I would in two working for the Bank of Montreal as a temp. And that doesn't even count the fact that I missed the first three working days of the month and I'm only getting a probationary salary right now. I may celebrate buy going out and getting a PSP.

Then again I may not. Hoarding all the money is also an appealing idea. I'd like to save until I get a million yen. It'll probably be the only chance I get to say that I'm a millionaire. Of course that may not be as impressive over here in Japan as it would be back in North America.

Here's another update on grocery item comparisons. I mentioned previously that chicken is super cheap here. Well the other day I found a Dominions flyer that I had brought over with me from Canada. Their price for boneless, skinless chicken was something around $13/kg. Now admitedly we're talking about Dominion so that might be a little expensive. The price of chicken here? $6/kg. I hope all the health scientists are right when they say that chicken is good for you because I'm eating it literally every day. It makes up for the $30 watermelons and $5 apples that I have to buy.

Here's a short addendum to the previous post about Japanese guilt. You may remember that not to long ago there was a large train crash in Osaka that killed about 75 people. Apparently the 23 year old driver had overshot one of the stops and was trying to make up time. Anyways the last survivor they pulled from the wreckage was a 19 year old university student who had been sitting in the front car and was thrown up into the conductors area. He fell unconcious from the shock and woke up a couple of hours later. Using his cell phone he called his father saying, "I'm sorry. I've been in an accident. I'm finished."

After finally being rescued and taken to the hospital, he asked his parents to tell his friends to visit him. Some immediately came to the hospital at his parents request. "I'm sorry for causing trouble," he said to them, smiling self-consciously.

What a strange, strange people.

let me get to sleep

An insight into the Japanese mindset

As some of you may or may not be aware, there have been more abductions of security personel in Iraq. Normally I wouldn't comment on it except for the fact that this time it's a Japanese citizen who has been kidnapped. The reaction to this news has been more than interesting.

When an American is kidnapped there is usually much wailing and gnashing of teeth followed by a lot of vitriol spewed in the general direction of the insurgents. The Japanese are also shocked and upset by the kidnapping but what really raises my eyebrows is that fault or responsibility is not so much placed upon the heads of the insurgents as it is on the victims. I think I remember this same thing happening last year when three Japanese were kidnapped. Rather than being given a heroes return upon their release they were stigmatized for even being involved in the whole thing. As if they shouldn't have been there in the first place and had somehow caused embarrassment for their entire country.

The Japanese seem to take personal responsibility very seriously, even to the point where their relatives feel the need to apologize for them. This is a quote from the kidnapped man's brother, who says the strangest thing I think I've ever heard:

"I think he went there, knowing full well that he would be in danger. But I'm very sorry he has caused trouble."

Certainly not the type of thing you would expect your average American to say about a kidnapped brother.

let me get to sleep

Time really flies...or rolls

According to the Metropolis, a weekly english language magazine for foreigners, there's a new alarm clock on the market. It's called, appropriately enough, "Clocky" and is an alarm clock on wheels that rolls away during the night and hides so that you have to get out of bed and find it to turn it off. Whether or not they become a fad here in Japan I'm not sure but I suspect that they probably won't catch on in North America where most people sleep on beds rather than on a futon on the floor. I can just imagine herds of lemming-like alarm clocks commiting suicide each night by throwing themselves off nightstands and falling to their untimely deaths.

I on the other hand have no need for an alarm clock because a) the earliest I have to be at work is 10:50 am and b) I wake up at 6:00am every day anyways because of the sun shining in my window. The sun wakes up at an ungodly time here. We're talking like 4:00 am in the morning! The flip side to this is that the sun disappears at a ridiculously early time at night. It's gets dark not too long after 6:00 pm. I know its still early in the year but I mean come on! Isn't the longest day of the year only a couple months away? I mentioned this to a fellow coworker who has done a couple of tours in Japan. His answer? Social Engineering. They want you to get up early in the morning and go to work and then they want you to go home at night and go to bed. If you've spent any time in Japanese society then that might make sense to you.

In other news, I came >this< close yesterday to buying a fairly expensive electronic item. I won't tell you what it was, only that its initials are P.S.P. I was so close that I had gone to the bank and withdrawn the money and was standing there in front of it like a little kid. But then I had a change of heart and took the money back to the bank and redeposited it. Must be a sign of maturity-either that or the pink eye has finally worked its way into my brain.

In pink eye news, I finally decided to go to the eye doctors and got a prescription for it. I was tempted to not bother today because my eyes were looking pretty good but I wore contact lenses yesterday and the red flared up again. My symptoms are so mild that it really borders on the ridiculous. But I have kareoke on payday with lots of gorgeous Japanese staff so I don't want to have to wear glasses! The worst part is that I have to toss out a brand new pair of contacts that I just started before I contacted the condition. I find it bothersome because it seems so wasteful but I'm sure Chad you have a more blunt term for it!

Ooh look-there's a new pope!

After going over a month without a newspaper, I finally broke down and subscribed to one of the english dailies over here. So it was when I received my first paper today that I learned that in my absence from the rest of the world Iraq finally put together a government, the Catholic world got a new pope and the Second World War ended-oops that is, the Second World War ended 60 years ago. It's sort of odd to be in a losing country during this time. Certainly no big celebrations although I suppose the war ended in May in Europe only and not the Pacific. That one's not till August so maybe by that time I'll be able to go down and visit Hiroshima or something. I'm assuming that Hiroshima is down relative to my position-other than Osaka, Okinawa and Tokyo I have no idea where anything is in Japan. I'm becoming used to giving blank stares whenever I ask someone where they're from or where they went on vacation. For all I know their response could be on the other side of the country or it could be the next train station.

I also went to the gym for the first time today. Actually this is the second time but it's the first time as an actual member of the gym. It's a gym, like any gym the world over I suppose. They're all pretty much the same. Although I'm still not used to having to take my shoes off before I go into the changeroom.

I found out tonight that one of my roommates is moving out and unfortunately it's the roommate with the computer!! Ahh well. I'll figure something out I suppose. In the meantime I might be posting a little less often. He doesn't move out for 10 days so we still have a little time together (I'm referring to me and the computer of course not me and you.) I'm actually a little eager to move out myself. This is a great appartment but I think I can find something cheaper and I want to be closer to the gym and the train station. Ideally I'd like to find something inside the triangle of the 7-Eleven, Life grocery store and the gym. I really need to make some kind of Japanese contact that can act as an intermediary between myself and the landlords! I'm working on it :)

I suppose I really shouldn't rush out and get a new appartment just yet until I've fully decided what I want to do. There isn't really much of a contractual obligation when it comes to leasing apartments in Japan. I think you can come and go as you please. But there is a fair bit of a monetary commitment so you want to be sure that you're going to stay for a while if you do decide to move. If you decide to go through a realestate agent then they'll probably take a months rent as commision. The landlord will probably expect a months rent for key money. Plus there is probably a 2 month deposit and of course you have to pay your first months rent. So that works out to...possibly 5 months rent up front. I may wait for a couple of months until I'm sure I want to stay. I'm having a perfectly good time right now but everyone says that culture shock doesn't really set in until after you've been there for a couple of months. Apparently I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase right now so we'll have to see what happens.

Tomorrow and Wednesday are my days off. I haven't really got anything planned other than getting a haircut. I'll definately go somewhere though even if it's just out exploring the local neighbourhood.

let me get to sleep

Waiting for the hammer to drop

I don't know which is worse-having pink eye or thinking you have pink eye. I haven't really been showing any outright signs of having it yet, but there's still time. Everytime I feel a little irritation in one of my eyes I think, "OH MY GOD I HAVE PINK EYE-I'M GOING TO DIE, I MIGHT EVEN GO BLIND!" Well ok maybe I don't react quite like that but it's amazing how effective the power of suggestion can be. If I ever blink the wrong way I wonder, did pink eye cause that? Have I finally got it? Anyways I've been washing my hands like a surgeon and hopefully it passes me by. I guess it's not really all that serious but I'd love to avoid the hassle of going to an eye doctor and gettting a prescription etc etc.

I'm kind of jumping the gun here but I'm about to go to bed so I thought I'd post the link to the Shinjuku picture right now. As of right now it hasn't actually been uploaded yet but hopefully my right-hand man and webspace provider Chad will get it up if he has free time.
If the link doesn't work then that means it hasn't been uploaded yet so try again later.

Shinjuku

let me get to sleep

Electric Town

Maybe it's Electronic Town. I can't quite recall but knowing the Japanese fondness of Engrish my guess is that it's probably the former. It's the unofficial name for Akihabara, one of the stops on the Yamonote line. It's supposedly the place to go if you have any particular electronic desires and want to get them cheap. In that respect it was fairly disappointing because I didn't see anything that I couldn't get as cheap or even cheaper in Ikebukero, the closest 'big' stop to me. What you can find though is anything you want. They have stores that just sell wire and little metal clips that must go into some type of electronic. They did have a few cool things though, such as:


1) Automobile Nav Displays
Or whatever you call them. They're the little computer that's inside some cars that show you
where the heck you're going. I've seen them before in Canada and I know I've commented that someday, these things will come standard in cars. Well in Japan, someday is today. I don't know if they come standard or if people just buy them as accessories but these things blow away what I've seen in North America. Instead of just having a basic map with roads and rivers it actually shows the little buildings. Or why even bother with a map when you can just follow along on a 3D generated map from your point of view. It's amazing to watch a virtual world go by as you pass buildings that have their own signs such as "McDonalds." Or if you want you can have a split screen with half of it being the map and the other half being a local TV program that you're picking up. Yes that's right TV- people are watching the news in their cars on the way home from work.

2) Computer/televisions
I've seen the future of home entertainment. Computers that also act as televisions. Take a computer, give it a huge 300 GB harddrive and a nice big 26" 16:9 LCD monitor and a remote control and you've got yourself a great entertainment center. Work on the computer and if you want to change over, just hit the TV button and it will switch to the TV and just like that you're flipping through the channels. No doubt you can probably save all your shows on that humoungous harddrive. The monitor also comes with audio/video inputs so if you want you can also hook up your PS2. Now many of you may be thinking, 'Bah! If I'm going to have an entertainment centre then I want a lot bigger TV than 26 inches!" Well believe me when you're used to watching TV on a 14" little box then a 26" widescreen LCD seems like heaven. Especially since a regular TV like that will cost you close to 2/3 of what the whole computer deal will. The cost? All this can be yours for only 300,000 yen.

3) Anything else
You want collectables? Figures? Models? They got 'em. You want anime? They got TONS. Including anime that comes in the pastel coloured cases. If you've been to Japan then you'll probably know what I mean. You can tell which floor is the "bad" anime floor without even going into the room-you can just observe the pink glow that permeates from the front door. I found it quite funny that often as not, the same store that is selling TV's, fridges and washer machines on the 1st floor is selling anime movies of ill repute on the 6th floor.

I was there for half a day but I doubt I managed to see even half of what Akihabara had to offer. And they didn't really have much of what I was looking for-import video consoles and video games. The consoles were expensive as were the games as well as being of poor variety. So be wary, my Canadian contacts, I'm going to be asking for favours. I really have to learn Japanese. It's such a damn shame that the Japanese have so many amazing things that are essentially worthless to me because I can't understand them.

let me get to sleep

So life continues

Just got back from FUT 1 (follow up training) today. It was interesting in the same way that watching paint dry can be interesting. I learned a few new things I suppose but a lot of it was just common sense. At the very least it was a good chance to go down to Shinjuku. The place just teems with pent up energy. It would be extremely cool to live there I think-if you can get used to the constant noise.

The Shinjuku subway station never fails to amaze me by just how busy it is. It seems almost like the entire population of Tokyo is in there waiting to board a train. It's hard to conceive why so many people would be getting on/off there until you see just how many different train likes run through the station. If you are new to riding the subway in Toronto and are lucky, the conductor might be in a good mood and say, when you get to Yonge and Bloor, "Change here for the Yonge subway line." In Tokyo, you will here a robotic female voice say something like this:

The next station is Shinjuku Station. Please change here for: the Yamanote line, the Sobu line, the Chuo line, the Keio-sagimahara line, the Chuo Main line, the Saikyo line, the Keio-takako line, the Maranouchi subway line, the Toie-Shinjuku subway line, the Seibu-Shinjuku line and the Toei Odeo line.

Now that isn't verbatim of course but that's basically what it sounds like. No wonder 3 million people go through there a day. I took a picture of one of the main intersections near Shinjuku today. If it's any good I might post it tomorrow.

I'm Learning Japanese!

Hmm the title was supposed to be a pun on the song title "I'm Turning Japanese" but it makes so much sense that it will probably go over everyones' head. It's actually quite a useful little phrase. So far I've managed to use it for "I'm Dancing Japanese" and "I'm Learning Japanese." Ok maybe I'm the only one who sees the humour in it-at least the second one rhymes.

The reason for my newfound love of learning is that I've only been here a month and already I'm tired of never knowing what the hell anything says. If you're at the train station or airport then you'll be alright but anywhere else and you're screwed. So anyways I've started re-learning the japanese character system called Hirigana. I learned it in my japanese course but then of course forgot after the course ended. So far I've re-memorized the first 20 of the 46 characters and let me tell you it's a lot easier the second time around. This will only help out a little though. Assuming that I do manage to get the characters down I'll still be screwed because even though I'll know what it says I'll still have no idea what the heck it means. Oh well we all have to start somewhere.

In other matters, my roommate Ben just returned from Thailand and in addition to bringing back absolutely nothing for me, he also brought back a case of pink eye. How in the world he managed to pick that up I have no idea but I assume it's probably one of the more benign infections that you can pick up in a country like Thailand. Anyways I think I'm likely to get it as I have been using his keyboard and probably have touched other things that he has touched. As a result I have been washing my hands like crazy and trying to keep my hands away from my face. I suppose I'll know within a couple of days whether I've contracted it as well.

let me get to sleep

Talk about jumping the gun

I don't know if this is possible but I think I've entered second childhood before even leaving the first! One of the great things about Japan is that there is a plethora of little collectable models and toys that can be had for quite cheap. As a result, I now own more toys than any time since I was about 10 years old. So far my collection is fairly typical of what the Japanese seem to love - giant fighting robots and scantily clad women with big guns...*ahem*...weapons.

I think my collection is probably going to get a lot bigger too. I don't know why either-I never felt a need to buy this stuff before I got here. Maybe there's something in the air. It certainly lends some credibility to the United States drug dogma though. I started out on the small stuff, little robots that you get out of the gumball machines for 200 yen and now I've moved up to the smaller sized models that cost between 500-1500 yen. Maybe when I'll move into my own apartment and get some paints I'll move up to the even larger 2000-3000 yen models. And I've already snapped a picture of my ultimate goal- the 13,000 yen model!
(Check out my cell on top for an idea of the scale.)

And I'm spent!

Finally finished up a very loooong work week. I changed my schedule around so that one of the people that I work with could get consecuetive days off. I'd hate to have a split weekend and he's had one for the past 6 months so I felt it was the least I could do. Besides, when your weekend is a Monday and Tuesday does it really matter if it switches to Tuesday/Wednesday? Anyways because of the way the month ended I had to work a 6 day week. Today hardly counted though. I spent the day at the Hoya branch and when I got in I found out that I only had 3 classes scheduled-3 classes out of 8! I was all by myself too. Needless to say it was extremely boring-fortunately the staff girl who was working today was fairly cute!

I don't think I've mentioned it yet but I actually work in the same place that I live. That is, I live in Hibarigaoka and I work at the Hibarigaoka branch. Now most of you are probably saying to yourselves that that only makes sense and you would think so wouldn't you? But that isn't the case at all. At least not according to my fellow teachers. Most of them express gasps of disbelief when they hear that I get to live in the same place as I work and I guess that makes me pretty lucky. I'm also working one day a week at the Hoya branch now as I said before but it's only the next train stop away and it's a new branch so things are super slow. I've yet to have more than one person in any class and I usually have about 3 frees a day.

I finally joined the gym today. It's kind of a complicated proccess when you are english and they are japanese. Fortunately the girl that helped me was actually half decently fluent. You had to pay for 2 months up front so that cost me about $150 which pretty much cleaned me out of all the money I had just stood in line to get at the bank and therefore I had to return to Lineup from Hell. Banking is sort of an oddity here in Japan. I can't understand how a country that has 24 hour 99 Yen stores can't have 24 hour ATM machines. They close after a certain time of day and they're closed on holidays. This week happens to be Golden Week which is a celebration of the end of hayfever season. 125 million Japanese collectively yell 'Woohoo' and throw their face masks into the trash. All I know is that everyone gets the week off except for us. It also means that for 3 days during the middle of the week you CANNOT get money out of the bank. This starts tomorrow so of course when I got to the bank this morning I was met by "The Longest ATM Lineup in the History of Mankind." They have about 8 ATM machines and even then the line went forever. Fortunately it moves pretty quickly and I was able to get through without too much delay. That is a good thing because for some reason there is no air conditioning in the bank and the official temperature inside was something approximate to the core of the Sun.

My apartment

Some of you were curious as to what my apartment looks like so I took a
few pics. It actually isn't as small as some of the stories about
Japanese housing would lead you to believe. I have no doubt that there are a lot of small apartments in Japan but ours is half decent. Enjoy.

Front door
Bathroom
Kitchen
Living room
My room
Adam's room
Ben's Room
Backyard

It's a decent apartment alright but I still feel like I'm paying more than I
could be. I'm constantly thinking of moving out, trying to find an
apartment closer to work, gym, park etc.
First though I'm going to
have to go make a good Japanese friend to act as a translator for me
and maybe even a sponsor. All in good time I guess.