I tried to download Rosetta stone, you know, just to see how much it sucks. Well it sucks even more than I imagined. Someone should have told me that aside from not being a functional program; it downloads horse porn to your computer and continuously prompts you to watch said horse porn. Viruses are so last century! Now, this inconvenience may be thanks to some hackers who wanted to fuck with me, but I DOUBT THAT. I'm sure the version you buy in the store does the same thing; maybe even worse. All I know is that all the losers I know that use the program sound kind of like that German dude in Can't Hardly Wait when they try to speak the language they are studying.
Anyone have any free suggestions for solving this? Ad-aware didn't get rid of it.
I am limiting my illegal downloading only to things that are awesome (and not independent). Am I allowed to say that?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
3:00 is usually my breakfast so I guess January 16th is my New Years
I'm sorry I'm trying to add you guys as friends or followed blogs or whichever but I guess I'm getting old and losing touch with technology.
New Years is pretty intense in Japan. The 2 week break that kids get in America is almost standard for most Japanese people. Almost every gets at least 5 or 6 days off and working at a school means you never have to grow up. Unfortunately I didn't have money for a trip to Korea, China or Australia that I had hoped for. Settling in cost a bit more than planned, especially when factoring in guitar, bike and electronic dictionary. I forgot that cooking exists for the entire month of December up until last night and that didn't make saving any easier.
Luckily I was treated to a 2 day New Years feast that included traditional New Years food (Osechi), lots of 'western' style meats and side dishes and an Italian dinner overlooking Fuji and the ocean near Kamakura.
Here is a rant that I wrote to myself or whoever about Japanese consumer culture during holidays..
It doesn't take a genius to figure out lots of people are making money out of holidays in Japan. Think American Hallmark holidays only there must be at least 10 a year. From the standpoint of someone who is wary of corporate intentions, it's kind of sad to see how mindlessly people throw their money away for tradition that I'm not so sure started out as such expensive holidays.
This isn't a foreign concept to the US but there’s a huge difference in the national holidays of Japan and those of America. American holidays have always meant very little to me and I know many people who feel the same. On the other hand, despite being completely religiously ambiguous, I still get excited thinking about Rosh Hashanah dinner or the songs I used to sing in temple. It doesn't matter if I believe in the books or not; there was still a sense of community and meaning behind it all. Perhaps some Americans feel that way about Thanksgiving dinner, and maybe someone with a family history in the military could get excited about veterans day but for me those were just days off from school. The the nostalgia that many westerners (including myself) can only feel toward a religious holiday can be felt easily during most national Japanese holidays even for a non-native such as myself.
Japan is the culturally rich place everyone recognizes it as, and if you can get down to the core feelings and meaning behind it, its almost always an amazing feeling; or for the assholes out there, an awesome thing to go home and brag about while showing off your pictures.
The problem is the overwhelming amount of sheep who let advertising rape their culture and tradition and the feelings they bring. $20-200 pastry boxes for everyone you make weekly contact with is a nice thought but no one is gaining as much or feeling as good as the big guys at Marui, Seibu, Tobu or the countless large corporations they work with. Hold off a little on the 社交辞令 and protect the meaningful traditions while they still exist. 20 years from now, you won't remember most of what you bought for any acquaintances on Christmas or New Years, and you won't remember most of what they bought for you. You won't remember most of the giri-chocolate you spent money on or what you got in return during Valentines Day and White day. But you will remember visiting your grandparents grave during New Years. You will remember spending the whole week with the people you care about and praying at the shrine and eating soba and osechi (even if you bought it from a monster like Marui).
Please don't take this as an attack on culture(if you actually read this far). It's just an attack on the companies that try to manipulate culture for their own benefit and my way of making some noise (however small it may be) to try and make someone think before they give their dollar votes away. Before you call me an outsider and question my right to have anything suggestive to say about a culture I wasn't raised in, first question the television and advertisements you fill your head with every day and the motives behind what they are saying and the way they are selling.
I'd like to sincerely apologize for any misinterpretation I may (very likely) have spoken. This is merely a vent for my frustrations with society at large (and certainly not specifically Japan) through a blog that almost no one reads so I hope you are not offended. Remember that as of now, I am essentially a no one who doesn't have to spend hours researching and double checking the validity of everything they say. I would much rather spend that time becoming fluent at Japanese.
If I say something dumb, just call me out on it and let's be friends. K?
love,
z
New Years is pretty intense in Japan. The 2 week break that kids get in America is almost standard for most Japanese people. Almost every gets at least 5 or 6 days off and working at a school means you never have to grow up. Unfortunately I didn't have money for a trip to Korea, China or Australia that I had hoped for. Settling in cost a bit more than planned, especially when factoring in guitar, bike and electronic dictionary. I forgot that cooking exists for the entire month of December up until last night and that didn't make saving any easier.
Luckily I was treated to a 2 day New Years feast that included traditional New Years food (Osechi), lots of 'western' style meats and side dishes and an Italian dinner overlooking Fuji and the ocean near Kamakura.
Here is a rant that I wrote to myself or whoever about Japanese consumer culture during holidays..
It doesn't take a genius to figure out lots of people are making money out of holidays in Japan. Think American Hallmark holidays only there must be at least 10 a year. From the standpoint of someone who is wary of corporate intentions, it's kind of sad to see how mindlessly people throw their money away for tradition that I'm not so sure started out as such expensive holidays.
This isn't a foreign concept to the US but there’s a huge difference in the national holidays of Japan and those of America. American holidays have always meant very little to me and I know many people who feel the same. On the other hand, despite being completely religiously ambiguous, I still get excited thinking about Rosh Hashanah dinner or the songs I used to sing in temple. It doesn't matter if I believe in the books or not; there was still a sense of community and meaning behind it all. Perhaps some Americans feel that way about Thanksgiving dinner, and maybe someone with a family history in the military could get excited about veterans day but for me those were just days off from school. The the nostalgia that many westerners (including myself) can only feel toward a religious holiday can be felt easily during most national Japanese holidays even for a non-native such as myself.
Japan is the culturally rich place everyone recognizes it as, and if you can get down to the core feelings and meaning behind it, its almost always an amazing feeling; or for the assholes out there, an awesome thing to go home and brag about while showing off your pictures.
The problem is the overwhelming amount of sheep who let advertising rape their culture and tradition and the feelings they bring. $20-200 pastry boxes for everyone you make weekly contact with is a nice thought but no one is gaining as much or feeling as good as the big guys at Marui, Seibu, Tobu or the countless large corporations they work with. Hold off a little on the 社交辞令 and protect the meaningful traditions while they still exist. 20 years from now, you won't remember most of what you bought for any acquaintances on Christmas or New Years, and you won't remember most of what they bought for you. You won't remember most of the giri-chocolate you spent money on or what you got in return during Valentines Day and White day. But you will remember visiting your grandparents grave during New Years. You will remember spending the whole week with the people you care about and praying at the shrine and eating soba and osechi (even if you bought it from a monster like Marui).
Please don't take this as an attack on culture(if you actually read this far). It's just an attack on the companies that try to manipulate culture for their own benefit and my way of making some noise (however small it may be) to try and make someone think before they give their dollar votes away. Before you call me an outsider and question my right to have anything suggestive to say about a culture I wasn't raised in, first question the television and advertisements you fill your head with every day and the motives behind what they are saying and the way they are selling.
I'd like to sincerely apologize for any misinterpretation I may (very likely) have spoken. This is merely a vent for my frustrations with society at large (and certainly not specifically Japan) through a blog that almost no one reads so I hope you are not offended. Remember that as of now, I am essentially a no one who doesn't have to spend hours researching and double checking the validity of everything they say. I would much rather spend that time becoming fluent at Japanese.
If I say something dumb, just call me out on it and let's be friends. K?
love,
z
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The working world.
Sooooo, I spent my monday night getting WASTED with my coworkers. I'd usually be ashamed to admit that I can't remember what happened but it's not like I had any say in the matter.
For all those who don't know, drinking with your co-workers in Japan is probably more common than drinking with your friends, and turning down an invitation could be seen as rude. Now usually foreigners have a 'get out of jail free' card for almost any expectations Japanese have of Japanese people but because I don't want to be treated like a monkey by EVERYONE and only those too stubborn to see that I am a sentient being, I try to go along with anything that doesn't make my life extremely difficult. This included a 5000 yen ($50) diiner and all you can drink party with all my coworkers including the principal and vice principle. Now it was advertised as all you can eat fancy buffet but what it actually was was something like a drink-and-do-everything-else-as-fast-as-you-can-and-show-drunk-affection-to-your-underlings event. The buffet was enough to feed half of the 33 of us and it took them a good 20 minutes to refill things. I've experienced this kind of service in America (maybe once or twice) but I thought it was unheard of in Japan, which to me indicates how much the stress was on alcohol.
So I knew it was common to pour for each other and you aren't really supposed to pour for yourself and I knew it was common to get sloppy with coworkers, but I didn't know that if the person pouring reached you and you had a full glass that you're expected to drink a significant amount so that they can pour for you. And I didn't know that at any given time half the people in the room are running around to pour for their superiors and inferiors to establish healthy bonds at lightning speed, which means about a half a beer every minute or two at the peak of the night (which for most people starts once their 4 or 5 drinks in). There does exist an option to establish yourself as a light drinker, but you run the risk of isolating yourself so the only option, if you want to avoid the risk of puking on your boss is to drink as slowly as possible until the pouring starts and hope no one challenges you to a chugging competition.
I'm sure there is a great deal of variance between the types of jobs and personalities in question, but in any case, MY situation left me with the kind of dreadful hangover that I had managed to avoid most of the way through college. I imagine this group is a little more open because they seem to be pretty close with each other compared to the teachers at the other school I work at.
I wasn't shocked by this situation, the only real surprise was that I thought most of the alcohol entering my body would have been 90% at the hands of my own free will.
I'm not complaining and I'm not raving about it either. It was awesome to see the principal stumble around and tell me he wants to communicate with me better and then chug a beer in my honor. But it would be nice if there was a little more room to opt out of all the drinking without feeling like your putting your job at risk.
After 2 and a half hours, the most pathetic game of darts and bingo that I've ever seen, and somewhere between 9 and 19 drinks, whoever was left standing moved on to the bar (about half of us). I'd tell you about the bar but all I remember is a very drunk gym teacher telling me I need to be more American and that I'm too much like Japanese people. I don't really know exactly what he meant by that but I took it as an opportunity to tell him I'm not the kind of jackass that fits a stereotype as well as he does. He laughed.
After that, all I remember is an older woman teacher making sure I didn't get lost on my way home since she lives fairly close to me on the same train line. During that time I am sure I said something embaressing but I'm not sure what. I cannot remember for the life of me if it was in English or Japanese but it doesn't really matter.
I woke up the next morning (2PM) dizzy and sick and decided it was as good a time as any to go to karaoke.
For all those who don't know, drinking with your co-workers in Japan is probably more common than drinking with your friends, and turning down an invitation could be seen as rude. Now usually foreigners have a 'get out of jail free' card for almost any expectations Japanese have of Japanese people but because I don't want to be treated like a monkey by EVERYONE and only those too stubborn to see that I am a sentient being, I try to go along with anything that doesn't make my life extremely difficult. This included a 5000 yen ($50) diiner and all you can drink party with all my coworkers including the principal and vice principle. Now it was advertised as all you can eat fancy buffet but what it actually was was something like a drink-and-do-everything-else-as-fast-as-you-can-and-show-drunk-affection-to-your-underlings event. The buffet was enough to feed half of the 33 of us and it took them a good 20 minutes to refill things. I've experienced this kind of service in America (maybe once or twice) but I thought it was unheard of in Japan, which to me indicates how much the stress was on alcohol.
So I knew it was common to pour for each other and you aren't really supposed to pour for yourself and I knew it was common to get sloppy with coworkers, but I didn't know that if the person pouring reached you and you had a full glass that you're expected to drink a significant amount so that they can pour for you. And I didn't know that at any given time half the people in the room are running around to pour for their superiors and inferiors to establish healthy bonds at lightning speed, which means about a half a beer every minute or two at the peak of the night (which for most people starts once their 4 or 5 drinks in). There does exist an option to establish yourself as a light drinker, but you run the risk of isolating yourself so the only option, if you want to avoid the risk of puking on your boss is to drink as slowly as possible until the pouring starts and hope no one challenges you to a chugging competition.
I'm sure there is a great deal of variance between the types of jobs and personalities in question, but in any case, MY situation left me with the kind of dreadful hangover that I had managed to avoid most of the way through college. I imagine this group is a little more open because they seem to be pretty close with each other compared to the teachers at the other school I work at.
I wasn't shocked by this situation, the only real surprise was that I thought most of the alcohol entering my body would have been 90% at the hands of my own free will.
I'm not complaining and I'm not raving about it either. It was awesome to see the principal stumble around and tell me he wants to communicate with me better and then chug a beer in my honor. But it would be nice if there was a little more room to opt out of all the drinking without feeling like your putting your job at risk.
After 2 and a half hours, the most pathetic game of darts and bingo that I've ever seen, and somewhere between 9 and 19 drinks, whoever was left standing moved on to the bar (about half of us). I'd tell you about the bar but all I remember is a very drunk gym teacher telling me I need to be more American and that I'm too much like Japanese people. I don't really know exactly what he meant by that but I took it as an opportunity to tell him I'm not the kind of jackass that fits a stereotype as well as he does. He laughed.
After that, all I remember is an older woman teacher making sure I didn't get lost on my way home since she lives fairly close to me on the same train line. During that time I am sure I said something embaressing but I'm not sure what. I cannot remember for the life of me if it was in English or Japanese but it doesn't really matter.
I woke up the next morning (2PM) dizzy and sick and decided it was as good a time as any to go to karaoke.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The astounding adventures of no one.
Sometimes I put people in awkward situations.
I was talking to another American who works for the same company about language barrier problems at work….and, you know, my Japanese isn't jaw dropping like Thane Camus or that dude from Megadeath or anything so I was trying to be humble, because I don't have the right not to be. Anyway, a Japanese friend from the building comes down to the lounge and I make a comment to her and she asks if he's my friend. I say well yeah but he lives here too, and she immediately starts speaking Japanese to him. Now I would appreciate this but he didn't really understand her question at all. She switched to English and it was fine but me and the girl have never spoken in English and I think she would rather speak in Japanese, and most of all, she understands English about as well as he understands Japanese. Her friends were there too and they were all speaking Japanese. Since I've been kind of neglecting them for a while (not like they sit and wait for me to spend time with them but you know, if you stop talking to people they think you don't like them sometimes and I don't want to), and because they are decent people and basically my only consistently Japanese conversation practice, I spoke to them a little bit in Japanese. And because I was in the middle of a conversation with the American dude, I tried to include him in the conversation. Now what should I do? Translate? That feels rude! Its like a jab saying my Japanese is better than yours and I know its not a nice feeling because people do it to me all the time when I don't need it just because I didn't catch one word. Not translate and risk him feeling completely alienated and feeling like shit about his level of Japanese; something I've also experienced. So I did what any sensible person would do and had two conversations at once. In the end, I couldn't focus on either of them and kind of spaced out and went to my room. This didn't exactly plague me for the rest of the day and it’s probably not the most interesting thing I’ll write here but it just got me thinking;
Human interactions are so complicated.
Cool.
I was talking to another American who works for the same company about language barrier problems at work….and, you know, my Japanese isn't jaw dropping like Thane Camus or that dude from Megadeath or anything so I was trying to be humble, because I don't have the right not to be. Anyway, a Japanese friend from the building comes down to the lounge and I make a comment to her and she asks if he's my friend. I say well yeah but he lives here too, and she immediately starts speaking Japanese to him. Now I would appreciate this but he didn't really understand her question at all. She switched to English and it was fine but me and the girl have never spoken in English and I think she would rather speak in Japanese, and most of all, she understands English about as well as he understands Japanese. Her friends were there too and they were all speaking Japanese. Since I've been kind of neglecting them for a while (not like they sit and wait for me to spend time with them but you know, if you stop talking to people they think you don't like them sometimes and I don't want to), and because they are decent people and basically my only consistently Japanese conversation practice, I spoke to them a little bit in Japanese. And because I was in the middle of a conversation with the American dude, I tried to include him in the conversation. Now what should I do? Translate? That feels rude! Its like a jab saying my Japanese is better than yours and I know its not a nice feeling because people do it to me all the time when I don't need it just because I didn't catch one word. Not translate and risk him feeling completely alienated and feeling like shit about his level of Japanese; something I've also experienced. So I did what any sensible person would do and had two conversations at once. In the end, I couldn't focus on either of them and kind of spaced out and went to my room. This didn't exactly plague me for the rest of the day and it’s probably not the most interesting thing I’ll write here but it just got me thinking;
Human interactions are so complicated.
Cool.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
I can't escape christmas song
I came to Japan to get away from every single store playing the same 30 Christmas songs on repeat with who remade it being the only real variation. That was the only reason I came to Japan. How was I supposed to know a non-Christian nation would embrace Christmas the same way America does? In fact they embrace Christmas more here. In fact, they embrace Christmas so much in Japan that they've one up-ed the US....with fried chicken. Christmas in Japan is about being with your lover, sending Christmas cards, giving presents, Decorating with Christmas trees and the color pink (...pink?), buying things (just like every holiday in Japan) and OF COURSE fried chicken. There are lines out the door of every single KFC in Tokyo, and that's a lot of KFC's; KFC is huge here. What better way to celebrate love, Santa Claus and shopping than with some fried chicken? Now maybe I just grew up in a nice neighborhood but I don't know a damn person who eats fried chicken on Christmas; in fact, I don't even know where you get fried chicken outside of the hood and maybe Fridays or Chili's (I see fewer KFCs than I see pink things on Christmas in the states). The best thing about this is that when you tell people any of this, 7 out of 10 will stare at you like 'what the hell are you talking about?' and you can see on their face that they have to re-evaluate everything they've done in their life up until that point. You can imagine the look on their face when I tell them I have never celebrated Christmas in my life. They usually think I grew up in a foster home or something like that.So remember, just because your Japanese friend celebrates Christmas doesn't mean they know shit about Jesus. So what the hell are you doing reading any further? Convert the heathen before Satan gets to them!Seriously though, it's not as if America is the only country in the world who grossly misinterprets foreign cultures and I'm coming to appreciate that about America ,which I guess evens out the fact that I've grown to see America as a generally dirty country.Please remember not to take my stereotypes too seriously; there are tons of exceptions to everything here and Japanese people are as diverse in personality, interests, lifestyle, and habits as anywhere else. I know a load of dirty ass Japanese people and a bunch who are not very surprised when they find out Japan has grossly misinterpreted foreign culture. But talking about those people is totally boring and you would not want to read it. If there weren't any stereotypes it would be an indication of a lack in cultural difference and that would be boring right? I think avoiding all stereotypes is not only unpractical but also extremely tight assed. But I doubt there’s a stereotype in the world that doesn't have loads of exceptions (there are often more exceptions and the stereotype represents the only recognizable trend despite it being less than 50%) and not realizing that is what causes problems. Generally Japan is full of people way more interested in understanding foreign culture but not unlike America, the media, advertising and other forces complicate their ability to do so in order to pursue their own goals. In all likeliness, the Christmas at KFC thing started from an advertising campaign when Japan was still 100% clueless about the west.In any case, I'm going to have to go to a Muslim country soon. I think that’s the only part of the world I can get away from the jingles.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Let's see if I can speak Japanese
This blog is a mess and I don't think anyone reads it yet. I'm torn whether or not to make it personal or informative. I want to share stuff with my friends and family and record the things I don't want to forget but I want to write informative stuff too for whoever is interested so maybe I'll have to make two blogs. For now 1 will work.
I saw Shiina Ringo. It was strange. It was huge...one big event I didn't know how to attend. The music was amazing but it was almost as impersonal as watching a live dvd. It all felt like a youtube video I was paying a lot of money to watch. 16,000 people! I'm used to meeting my favorite bands after a show in front of 200-500 people. I felt so small. An ego-blood rush went to my head and I felt I deserved better than to be a nameless spectator. Maybe. Maybe not. With her opening song and one of her most haunting, Hatsukoi Shojou, the last 3 years sunk in.
I don't desire fame, but I want to create something worthy of fame. I will. I know now that I am able to.
I saw Shiina Ringo. It was strange. It was huge...one big event I didn't know how to attend. The music was amazing but it was almost as impersonal as watching a live dvd. It all felt like a youtube video I was paying a lot of money to watch. 16,000 people! I'm used to meeting my favorite bands after a show in front of 200-500 people. I felt so small. An ego-blood rush went to my head and I felt I deserved better than to be a nameless spectator. Maybe. Maybe not. With her opening song and one of her most haunting, Hatsukoi Shojou, the last 3 years sunk in.
I don't desire fame, but I want to create something worthy of fame. I will. I know now that I am able to.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Seppuku - The good old days
Japan has the highest suicide rate of any country not formally part of the Soviet Union. 24 out of every 100,000 people kill themselves (.024% of the population). That's more than half the suicide rate in America and that's alot of people. It seems like a lot more people when so many of them do it by jumping in front of a train. Suicide is tragic and all, but....
For 3 days straight I've been late getting to work because of 'Human Accidents' on the Tobu Tojo Line. 3 days in a row! That is absurd. Now, I don't condone suicide by any means. I think it's cruel and unfair to put the people who care about you through that just because you are unreasonably impatient. You're going to die eventually anyway and as long as you're alive you can do SOMETHING (Anything!). But I also beleive people should have control over their own lives so if you are going to do it GET CREATIVE. Jumping in front of a train is pathetic. Everyone does it. It has no meaning and its not even tragic; its just messy and annoying to the thousands of soul-less salarymen waiting to get to work. If your life is so bad you don't want to live it, at least go out in a spectacular way. At least don't make your last action on earth so utterly boring. This is the country where Seppuku (Harakiri) used to be honorable! So why aren't more Japanese doing it?! I blame westernization.
What happened to the good old days when saying sorry was about slicing open your stomach and letting your guts spill all over the floor? When you had nothing left to do, you did just that! And you know, if you could arrange it, someone would cut off your head so it didn't take hours to die. With McDonaldization comes castration?
I turn you all now to my favorite suicide; that of Yukio Mishima. Let's look back and embrace it; because all good suicides should involve an attempt at government overthrow.
(Link will be poster later today. Cheers!)
For 3 days straight I've been late getting to work because of 'Human Accidents' on the Tobu Tojo Line. 3 days in a row! That is absurd. Now, I don't condone suicide by any means. I think it's cruel and unfair to put the people who care about you through that just because you are unreasonably impatient. You're going to die eventually anyway and as long as you're alive you can do SOMETHING (Anything!). But I also beleive people should have control over their own lives so if you are going to do it GET CREATIVE. Jumping in front of a train is pathetic. Everyone does it. It has no meaning and its not even tragic; its just messy and annoying to the thousands of soul-less salarymen waiting to get to work. If your life is so bad you don't want to live it, at least go out in a spectacular way. At least don't make your last action on earth so utterly boring. This is the country where Seppuku (Harakiri) used to be honorable! So why aren't more Japanese doing it?! I blame westernization.
What happened to the good old days when saying sorry was about slicing open your stomach and letting your guts spill all over the floor? When you had nothing left to do, you did just that! And you know, if you could arrange it, someone would cut off your head so it didn't take hours to die. With McDonaldization comes castration?
I turn you all now to my favorite suicide; that of Yukio Mishima. Let's look back and embrace it; because all good suicides should involve an attempt at government overthrow.
(Link will be poster later today. Cheers!)
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