Ok. So Christmas has come and gone with New Year’s just around the corner. And although I dislike quite a few things politically back home, over here, and just in general. I’ve been ‘re blued’ or have become a patriot again. My reasoning for this is simple. Because we’re overseas not everyone gets mail on time, from everyone, etc.. So they’ll provide cards for us from varied sources. I pick a card out of the box addressed to ‘our hero’. Sure heartwarming sappy, whatever….But the card itself. The card itself brought me to tears.
It was just a generic card though Santa with a tree, the printed lettering saying ‘Merry Christmas’, but thee text written inside it is what brought me to tears. So there I am on a chilly December day in Tokyo opening a Christmas card from god knows who in the door way of a chow hall. And what I see written is the last thing I expect. In simple black pen in young, yet not childishly messy handwriting I see the lone sentence. “Thank you for our Freedom.” I broke down right then and there. It made me realize that I’m not serving to defend my country, the politicians, the overly fattened political system that we have, no. I was fighting for that. The innocent naiveté that is present in all of us at some point. I’m here serving not my country, but hope. I serve to defend that hope in some kid’s heart, hope that will be destroyed if we fail as a country.
That said, yes, we need to change our ways or that innocent little line will be for nothing and there won’t be any more American heroes to thank for freedom, there won’t be any Americans as we recognize them today. All there will be are members of a country that none of us alive today can fathom. It’s that hope, that one innocent line that has renewed my faith that making the choice I did was the right one. Some may question the morality of serving at all such as certain radical churches in Kansas, but seeing such innocence displayed in that way leaves no doubt in my mind that service to defend hope, to provide people with the freedom to be thankful for such an intangible thing is what it’s all about. On paper and in voice as follows:
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
But in my heart and my soul, I serve the hope of all those thinking that we are doing the right thing.
Anyway enough of my proselyting and time for an actual blog entry…how about that hmm?
Well a few days ago while cycling to PT in the cold December rain I misjudged the amount of water on the road, went off of the road and straight into some train tracks. While I sustained only minor personal injuries ( a few scrapes and bruises), I still got checked out to make sure I was fine. Something that is smart to do whenever severe pain is felt in the chest. Believe me, landing on hardened steel handlebars hurts like a sonovagun. Anyway I was reporting into my superiors every step of the way, and the doctor seeing me gave me the ‘likely’ injuries from where I sustained impacts. I caught hell for that later as word of my potential injuries trickled up to my Commanding Officer. Mind you, when I reported in I made sure to use the words ‘possible, might, and could be’ in the same places the doctor had used them before broken, cracked, internal damage respectively. They wound up calling me good and prescribing me antibacterial cream for my wounds. Yet I still caught hell for reporting in as I was given information. I didn’t inform them I’d be riding my damaged bicycle over to the base hospital, and the people I informed rightly assumed I’d be doing so, but well. Let’s just say that I learned a lesson about disseminating information that should be obvious. Anyway I’m done complaining as it’s not my style, I learned a lesson about information dissemination, so I’m fine now.
Moving on…
Christmas was decent. Had Christmas dinner at the house of one of my superiors, it wasn’t what I expected in that there were no fresh vegetables on the table, just mayo and sugar covered salad and green bean casserole. I tend to like peas, corn, carrots and other vegetables not out of a can, cooked into other things, or covered in goop, my definition of fresh is, simple plain vegetables either raw, or lightly cooked. Everything tasted good and the bosses’ wife makes an amazing pumpkin pie, so it was overall a decent meal.
As I’m going to a new shift soon I’ll need to alter my sleeping habits and I have that planned out already, it involves another All-nighter, or a set of them in Roppongi. I’ll stay away from the main drag with all of the strip clubs and actually go to someplace where I want to. I likely won’t drink much, but I think that new years at Roppongi could be a very cool thing to do, provided I actually go in a mood to have fun, which of all things is my biggest fault. I tend to take things quite seriously, value meaningful conversation and intelligence and have my sun issue from that. Mingling with a group of strangers is new for me especially for long lengths of time. Then again…if I can strike up a conversation with a German woman in McDonald’s at 3 AM I can mingle at a club for 8 hours right?
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
One month in Japan
Well I've been in Japan for one month to the day and I must say it has so far been a wonderful experience. If you've read my blog so far you'll know numerous things that have happened that I won't recount here.
I will say that hubris has gotten the better of me and smacked me down on one major occasion, the penance of such was a pie in the face literally and figuratively. I learned quite hard that not everybody is up for everything when not stated. There is generally such a thing as implied consent, however respect is another thing I also need to recognize in people. I've never blogged about work until now. For you all to understand this well we had some fun with our commander, the guy crammed into an Elf costume on Christmas because we paid to get him into it via a fundraiser. I thought I could do the same thing here, so i put some money on my commanding officer....bad idea. Didn't get paperwork, just told that 'I don't play that' and to remove the money. Of course I did so within the hour of being told to do so. Later that week I paid for it via a cherry pie. No this isn't a euphemism for anything, I got hit with a cherry pie, in the face.
Now I deserved it, I know it. If anything I thought I learned my lesson from that but well, a few days later I gave myself some more problems, I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut. That would honestly be best for me in most if not all situations that don't require me to 'slackjaw'. Anyway enough about hubris for now It's something I need to deal with on my own.
Now so far this country has proven to be incredibly beautiful in most aspects of it. Walking down a cramped and oh so crowded side street in Harajuku feeling almost 'closed in' to some respects, yet perfectly comfortable in others. Nobody standing around and lingering everyone moving with a purpose and a drive that i rarely if ever got to see in the States. The amazing thing about it all none of it was what anyone from the US would consider 'loud' sure there were vendors and advertisers on the street trying to get people to 'go here or buy this' but despite the hustle and bustle that everybody was encased in, very quiet overall. While it may be a stereotype that the Japanese are incredibly polite, it seems to be one that is well founded, I've only encountered one or two rude people so far in my time here, and even then that was because I didn't know the custom relating eating a bowl of Ramen.
Living in another country has really been an eyeopening and life changing experience, I'm quite curious as to how I'll view the United states when i eventually return there after my tour here in Japan, or overseas in general is over. Truth be told of the camaraderie that I've experienced so far it has been better than anything I encountered back in Oklahoma or in Texas before that. Perhaps if I felt this close to my co-workers, roommate, or the other people on base, maybe my career would have started in a better place.
I made a promise to someone and I plan to keep it. That doesn't mean I won't experience the culture here though.
I will say that hubris has gotten the better of me and smacked me down on one major occasion, the penance of such was a pie in the face literally and figuratively. I learned quite hard that not everybody is up for everything when not stated. There is generally such a thing as implied consent, however respect is another thing I also need to recognize in people. I've never blogged about work until now. For you all to understand this well we had some fun with our commander, the guy crammed into an Elf costume on Christmas because we paid to get him into it via a fundraiser. I thought I could do the same thing here, so i put some money on my commanding officer....bad idea. Didn't get paperwork, just told that 'I don't play that' and to remove the money. Of course I did so within the hour of being told to do so. Later that week I paid for it via a cherry pie. No this isn't a euphemism for anything, I got hit with a cherry pie, in the face.
Now I deserved it, I know it. If anything I thought I learned my lesson from that but well, a few days later I gave myself some more problems, I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut. That would honestly be best for me in most if not all situations that don't require me to 'slackjaw'. Anyway enough about hubris for now It's something I need to deal with on my own.
Now so far this country has proven to be incredibly beautiful in most aspects of it. Walking down a cramped and oh so crowded side street in Harajuku feeling almost 'closed in' to some respects, yet perfectly comfortable in others. Nobody standing around and lingering everyone moving with a purpose and a drive that i rarely if ever got to see in the States. The amazing thing about it all none of it was what anyone from the US would consider 'loud' sure there were vendors and advertisers on the street trying to get people to 'go here or buy this' but despite the hustle and bustle that everybody was encased in, very quiet overall. While it may be a stereotype that the Japanese are incredibly polite, it seems to be one that is well founded, I've only encountered one or two rude people so far in my time here, and even then that was because I didn't know the custom relating eating a bowl of Ramen.
Living in another country has really been an eyeopening and life changing experience, I'm quite curious as to how I'll view the United states when i eventually return there after my tour here in Japan, or overseas in general is over. Truth be told of the camaraderie that I've experienced so far it has been better than anything I encountered back in Oklahoma or in Texas before that. Perhaps if I felt this close to my co-workers, roommate, or the other people on base, maybe my career would have started in a better place.
I made a promise to someone and I plan to keep it. That doesn't mean I won't experience the culture here though.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
All-nighter in Roppongi
Well….
Pulled an all-nighter in Shibuya/Roppongi last night just acting as the wingman of one of my buddies. Interesting experience, being well not-single in a place filled with whores and strip clubs, but I’ll get to that soon enough. The night started well enough, going to the Enlisted club trying to win the 900 dollar jackpot. Surprisingly they had a rather amazing buffet there and it provided an awesome free dinner. Sadly nobody won the 900 dollars so I’ll go next week maybe when it’s up over 1,000. I mean really? Woman that had the winning ticket left, what is there more important than wining nearly 1,000 dollars and making a 1,000 dollar profit. Hopefully the person had a sick kid or an emergency at home.
After that I left with my buddy to head down to Shibuya so he could meet up with his date and get the night started with a few drinks, while I abstained personally from alcohol as bad things happen and considering I have a girlfriend alcohol in a place filled with whores and strip clubs don’t mix. Shibuya itself was cool, mostly a shopping district with a few clubs and bars. I’d go back there I think, so long as I have the money but I think I’ll save up for a good while before going out again, spending money on coffee got expensive. Speaking of which I’m a victim of Brand recognition, had some vending machine coffee and the only reason I had that coffee is because I thought the Tommy Lee Jones commercials were funny as hell. Let me make this clear I only had the coffee because Tommy Lee jones was selling it……. I hate being a victim of advertising campaigns, was good coffee though, so yeah.
I have no idea how many times I had to say variations of ‘No thank you’ to people trying to get me to go to strip clubs, or whores offering massages with ‘happy endings’ than I care to count. For that reason not a place I’ll go back to during the night time. I did however go see Tokyo Tower at night, long cold walk, past the Russian embassy and Aston Martin dealerships, past pricy business and then up a very steep hill, and get to look up at the bottom of a very well lit icon of the Tokyo landscape, quite breathtaking if taken in the right context. Hell even the police guarding the entrance were marveling at the thing.
If you’re wondering where my buddy was all this time, he was at a club I had no interest in. I’d rather not pay 2,000 yen to get into a Rap club where drinking is mandatory, we did keep in touch with our phones so I didn’t abandon my wingman, and the night ended well for him.
Anyway after walking up and down the street for the millionth time saying no to the same club pushers and whores I dip into what turns out to be a rather fancy restaurant and order a few things. I had what turned out to be an appetizer, grilled beef with potatoes and Miso, now it was an absolutely amazing use of my money, should have gotten a bowl of udon but well que sera sera, I also had pumpkin mousse, and that was an absolutely amazing choice, the rich creamy texture with the strong pumpkin flavor was absolutely marvelous. Now at this point it’s about 2:30 AM trains have stopped and I’m tired of saying no to the same whores, so I dip inside Starbucks and have a coffee, black and wind up dumping 6 or 7 packets of sugar and honey into it to try an improve the flavor, that worked for about 15 minutes until Starbucks closed, then over to Mc Donalds to use the restroom. But only place open was the ordering area, McD’s had private security guarding the upstairs where the seating areas and restrooms were. Let that sink in for a little bit, Private Security At a fast food restaurant. Typical rent-a-cop uniform, and deformed security guard and everything, guys ear looked like it had been chewed up and spit out, but yeah so I order another coffee, and let me tell you, I STRONGLY prefer starbucks over Mc Donalds, but that doesn’t mean the coffee tastes much better. So I’m sitting at Mc Donalds just watching the street and a girl winds up sitting next to me, blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin. I figure ‘what the hell’ lets hope she speaks English. So I start up a nice and polite conversation with the woman, turns out to be German, and just finishing up an extended vacation before she starts college. Nice person to talk to while waiting for the crack of dawn. Then I see what may be my first encounter with yakuza activity. The two of us ‘me and the german woman’ are watching from the 2nd floor window when this guy gets kicked out of a big van with blacked out windows, approaches the drivers side and kneels, forehead touching the ground, for about a good two minutes before running back into the van. NO clue what he did to insult the driver, but from what we could see they looked like Sterotypical yakuza, nice suits, strict behavior customs, young.
Anyway so 5 AM rolls around and me and the German say our good byes and go home to our respective ends of Tokyo, should have gotten her facebook she seemed very nice, and by this point I’m fighting off sleep like Indiana Jones fights Nazis. The lyric from an iron Maiden song comes to mind ‘He’s walking like a deadman’…that’s how crappy I felt. And yeah finally make it back to base and PTFO for a few hours.
So that was my all-nighter.
Pulled an all-nighter in Shibuya/Roppongi last night just acting as the wingman of one of my buddies. Interesting experience, being well not-single in a place filled with whores and strip clubs, but I’ll get to that soon enough. The night started well enough, going to the Enlisted club trying to win the 900 dollar jackpot. Surprisingly they had a rather amazing buffet there and it provided an awesome free dinner. Sadly nobody won the 900 dollars so I’ll go next week maybe when it’s up over 1,000. I mean really? Woman that had the winning ticket left, what is there more important than wining nearly 1,000 dollars and making a 1,000 dollar profit. Hopefully the person had a sick kid or an emergency at home.
After that I left with my buddy to head down to Shibuya so he could meet up with his date and get the night started with a few drinks, while I abstained personally from alcohol as bad things happen and considering I have a girlfriend alcohol in a place filled with whores and strip clubs don’t mix. Shibuya itself was cool, mostly a shopping district with a few clubs and bars. I’d go back there I think, so long as I have the money but I think I’ll save up for a good while before going out again, spending money on coffee got expensive. Speaking of which I’m a victim of Brand recognition, had some vending machine coffee and the only reason I had that coffee is because I thought the Tommy Lee Jones commercials were funny as hell. Let me make this clear I only had the coffee because Tommy Lee jones was selling it……. I hate being a victim of advertising campaigns, was good coffee though, so yeah.
I have no idea how many times I had to say variations of ‘No thank you’ to people trying to get me to go to strip clubs, or whores offering massages with ‘happy endings’ than I care to count. For that reason not a place I’ll go back to during the night time. I did however go see Tokyo Tower at night, long cold walk, past the Russian embassy and Aston Martin dealerships, past pricy business and then up a very steep hill, and get to look up at the bottom of a very well lit icon of the Tokyo landscape, quite breathtaking if taken in the right context. Hell even the police guarding the entrance were marveling at the thing.
If you’re wondering where my buddy was all this time, he was at a club I had no interest in. I’d rather not pay 2,000 yen to get into a Rap club where drinking is mandatory, we did keep in touch with our phones so I didn’t abandon my wingman, and the night ended well for him.
Anyway after walking up and down the street for the millionth time saying no to the same club pushers and whores I dip into what turns out to be a rather fancy restaurant and order a few things. I had what turned out to be an appetizer, grilled beef with potatoes and Miso, now it was an absolutely amazing use of my money, should have gotten a bowl of udon but well que sera sera, I also had pumpkin mousse, and that was an absolutely amazing choice, the rich creamy texture with the strong pumpkin flavor was absolutely marvelous. Now at this point it’s about 2:30 AM trains have stopped and I’m tired of saying no to the same whores, so I dip inside Starbucks and have a coffee, black and wind up dumping 6 or 7 packets of sugar and honey into it to try an improve the flavor, that worked for about 15 minutes until Starbucks closed, then over to Mc Donalds to use the restroom. But only place open was the ordering area, McD’s had private security guarding the upstairs where the seating areas and restrooms were. Let that sink in for a little bit, Private Security At a fast food restaurant. Typical rent-a-cop uniform, and deformed security guard and everything, guys ear looked like it had been chewed up and spit out, but yeah so I order another coffee, and let me tell you, I STRONGLY prefer starbucks over Mc Donalds, but that doesn’t mean the coffee tastes much better. So I’m sitting at Mc Donalds just watching the street and a girl winds up sitting next to me, blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin. I figure ‘what the hell’ lets hope she speaks English. So I start up a nice and polite conversation with the woman, turns out to be German, and just finishing up an extended vacation before she starts college. Nice person to talk to while waiting for the crack of dawn. Then I see what may be my first encounter with yakuza activity. The two of us ‘me and the german woman’ are watching from the 2nd floor window when this guy gets kicked out of a big van with blacked out windows, approaches the drivers side and kneels, forehead touching the ground, for about a good two minutes before running back into the van. NO clue what he did to insult the driver, but from what we could see they looked like Sterotypical yakuza, nice suits, strict behavior customs, young.
Anyway so 5 AM rolls around and me and the German say our good byes and go home to our respective ends of Tokyo, should have gotten her facebook she seemed very nice, and by this point I’m fighting off sleep like Indiana Jones fights Nazis. The lyric from an iron Maiden song comes to mind ‘He’s walking like a deadman’…that’s how crappy I felt. And yeah finally make it back to base and PTFO for a few hours.
So that was my all-nighter.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Akiba Thanksgiving
Ok, so today is thanksgiving in Japan, well on base anyway. Yay! So I get up have a light breakfast at the chow hall hop on my bicycle and ride to the train station and head down to Akihabara (Akiba). Akihabara also known as Akibahara Electric Town or simply Akiba is one of the main consumer electronics centers in Japan. You need a computer built or repaired? You can find what you need on the street there in these little stalls. How crowded some of the streets are reminded me of Harajuku except only about 5 streets were that packed (I went on Thursday) and instead of designer clothing it was hard drives and comic stuff. That’s another thing about Akiba, very VERY Otaku centric place. I walked into an Internet Café to see how they do It, all I see is a long empty hall way with a computer room at one end filled with the bluish white glow of computers, the acrid smell of old cigarette smoke, and the lights of a vending machine that promised ‘hot meals’. It was the same for a Pachinko parlor I stepped inside of except then you had billions of flashing lights and high pitched electronic music so loud that not even Rambo with a machine gun could be heard over the music. Anyway….i went there in search of Gundams for my girlfriend, couldn’t find any I felt like purchasing as they were either cheaper in the states or too big for me to carry on a bicycle with no backpack with me. So I got something else that I know she’ll like. Why does blue hair have to be such a staple of Anime?
Lunch was after a few hours of walking around, had a bowl of Sushi for about 1,000 yen. Was just a big bowl of rice, shrimp, egg, tuna, shrimp, salmon eggs, and other raw fish I can’t place. It was very good, cheap, and quite filling. It came with Miso soup and some type of egg stuff I couldn’t figure out what to do with. Tasted good, but I’ve made enough faux pas already, Hell one of the other patrons was laughing at me trying to pick up the salmon eggs with my chopsticks. I did it…but I guess the big American at the bar he was too small for was quite funny. Speaking of they tell us to not attract attention to ourselves….oops. I wore red, so there I am, big American wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, surrounded in a sea of Japanese businessmen all in suits. I I don’t mind attracting attention due to my size (It happens anyway), but I was very conscious of HW much I stood out today. May go to Roppongi next….or back to Harajuku, good food there, that or to Shibuya and try to find the Stormtrooper.
Lunch was after a few hours of walking around, had a bowl of Sushi for about 1,000 yen. Was just a big bowl of rice, shrimp, egg, tuna, shrimp, salmon eggs, and other raw fish I can’t place. It was very good, cheap, and quite filling. It came with Miso soup and some type of egg stuff I couldn’t figure out what to do with. Tasted good, but I’ve made enough faux pas already, Hell one of the other patrons was laughing at me trying to pick up the salmon eggs with my chopsticks. I did it…but I guess the big American at the bar he was too small for was quite funny. Speaking of they tell us to not attract attention to ourselves….oops. I wore red, so there I am, big American wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, surrounded in a sea of Japanese businessmen all in suits. I I don’t mind attracting attention due to my size (It happens anyway), but I was very conscious of HW much I stood out today. May go to Roppongi next….or back to Harajuku, good food there, that or to Shibuya and try to find the Stormtrooper.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A Day in Harajuku
Ok you can take my manhood from me if you wish for this. But the first time I go out of walking distance i don't go to a bar, a strip club, a sporting event, or even on a date, or to go racing...I go to Harajuku. And i don't care yes i went to a World fashion Capital on a day off and window shopped. You know what? I enjoyed it too hell I'd have bought some stuff but what i could afford couldn't fit, what could fit I couldn't afford, and as I'm Military I couldn't buy one of the hats ANY of the stores were selling because I'm Anal about having to HOLD a hat inside a building, besides I have a weird head shape...hats just look goofy on me. Though i did see one jacket that made me REALLy want to go out of my price range of the 7,000 Yen I had to spend. Anyway being exposed to fashion the way I was got me thinking. With as many consider it a hobby, passing fancy, career, or life,and seeing the attached price tag, it made me think: Is it worth it? The answer is vague: It's subjective. there can never be a true and honest opinion on fashion because of numerous factors, is it pleasing, ugly, or too pricy...all of it is subjective. There is no answer I guess even calling it 'fashion' is subjective if someone doesn't think it is. But you know what? I found stuff my sisters would like and stuff I liked. So while out of my price range, it was quite nice to experience.
Now everyone goes on about the fashion in Harajuku, but you know what? The food is...amazing. I saw some little cafe in Harajuku called 'Cafe cloud' that was near empty. had lunch there. Lunch was a tomato based vegetable beef soup, a leafy green salad with a ginger dressing, and a a sandwich. the sandwich was on a baguette it had tuna, olives, green pepper, and fresh tomato. All of it diced really fine and toasted. People can have their 500 Dollar Ralph Lauren polo shirts, designer jackets, and Louis Vuitton handbags, but the 800 or so yen (about 10 USD) I spent on lunch was more satisfying. Besides later chatting with some Brit and his Girlfriend made for an interesting day.
Story behind that in my failed search for a jacket I bump into a 6'5" brit searching for a jacket also I make the comment 'Amazing stuff here, but none of it fit". So we're just walking and talking about random stuff for a few blocks, now let me tell you bartenders are interesting dudes to chat with, and let me make this known...I love the c*** that comes out of the mouths of brits.
Anyway...here i am in my dorm room with a stomach full of Eggplant, tomato, and sukiyaki Curry (CoCo's Level 8) and blogging again strongly considering getting a proper blogger account on another website. This is fun. Next week....Roppongi..or Tokyo itself.
Now everyone goes on about the fashion in Harajuku, but you know what? The food is...amazing. I saw some little cafe in Harajuku called 'Cafe cloud' that was near empty. had lunch there. Lunch was a tomato based vegetable beef soup, a leafy green salad with a ginger dressing, and a a sandwich. the sandwich was on a baguette it had tuna, olives, green pepper, and fresh tomato. All of it diced really fine and toasted. People can have their 500 Dollar Ralph Lauren polo shirts, designer jackets, and Louis Vuitton handbags, but the 800 or so yen (about 10 USD) I spent on lunch was more satisfying. Besides later chatting with some Brit and his Girlfriend made for an interesting day.
Story behind that in my failed search for a jacket I bump into a 6'5" brit searching for a jacket also I make the comment 'Amazing stuff here, but none of it fit". So we're just walking and talking about random stuff for a few blocks, now let me tell you bartenders are interesting dudes to chat with, and let me make this known...I love the c*** that comes out of the mouths of brits.
Anyway...here i am in my dorm room with a stomach full of Eggplant, tomato, and sukiyaki Curry (CoCo's Level 8) and blogging again strongly considering getting a proper blogger account on another website. This is fun. Next week....Roppongi..or Tokyo itself.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
I Never Blog
I never blog but well When you race the sunrise, get lost in Fussa, experience shouting produce, and bitch at your bank from half a world away things need to get mentioned.
It all started with a red Eye flight out of seattle headed to my new posting in japan. Terribly excited and even more tired once the boarding had begun. With sunrise at about 7 Am central or so these days I figured the jet had a three hour head start, so it was then we started racing the sunrise on a long cross pacific flight with no stops. Very fun times. At least the trip up to Seattle was fun, i'll never forget sitting between a flight attendant (That actually looked good) and a retired AF Pilot. I learned things talking to those two that i'll remember forever. Things such as...Halloween in New Orleans and what happens when a friend tatto's a fake pen**, wears a kilt, and talks like a caricature of a Sean Connerry caricature. Also what happens when the whole flight crew is asleep.
Getting lost in Fussa was an interesting experience. With my VERY limited grasp of Japanese finding a bicycle store (jitensha shoppu) was incredibly long and fun. Anyway, I eventually get to the store with the help of this 4 foot nothing octegenarian running to show me the way to find a great bicycle in all respects but one, It was 10 cm too shot, BUT the seat post length made up for this fact. Anyway, so through very broken engrish translations and miming gesture I get the store clerk to equip a kickstand, and minipump to this 80,300 Yen bicycle. grand total of my purchase....1100-1200 USD (depending on the exchange rate) This is where yelling at my bank comes in.
I had them install a block in my account so that no more than 900 USD can be spent in one day WHILE telling them I'd spend in the 1500 USD range on a bicycle very shortly. So either it was this...or the fact the transfer of 5 bills is still pending into my checking account that held up the transaction. So here I am blogging about of this while hoping that the nice store owner in a beat up part of Fussa honors his word and keeps my goods for me till tomorrow.
The trip back was....unique. Being as interested in other cultures as I am i decide to visit what seemed to be a small shopping center. This is where I encountered the yelling produce.. I see a few vegetable stalls outside so i go to look at what seem to be gene-modified apples. We're talking Granny smith's the size of my head (I'll take a picture when my camera arrives). So i enter the store to see among other things whole frozen fish, and foot long roots straight as an arrow that I can't even place. Then it hit me....the ever present sound of a pitch man wasn't a speaker system, but proximity sensors hidden amongst the daikon. If one enters a 5 foot radius of these sometimes not so hidden sensors they blare at you in rapid japanese the prices of the item, what it is, and other things I can't fully grasp.
To establish communications I sign a new cell phone contract with some company called and i sh** you not 'SoftBank'. The phone is a basic model, call, text, can do pictures, make video calls, scan barcodes, you know normal stuff, all twice the size of my old cell phone. The one thing truly unique about it....the users manual is ONLY in Japanese, so im stuck slowly deciphering what is sometimes a very nearly engrish menu system, and for the life of me I can't locate the 'delete' button when entering a number.
Anyway... After the adventures with produce I stop by a little bakery type place and pick up a riceball with sweet bean paste, after that another bakery and I have a fruit tart, and then I get lost. To sum it up....been up the better part of 24 hours, skipped thursday, got yelled at by vegetables, nearly bought a bike, got a new cell phone that is brick compared to my old one,bitched at my bank, had uniquely japanese food, and got lost. And you'll never believe this...encountered what was at least a 6 foot japanese woman.
This is all on the first day...any time to relax, turn on the TV, and hope the first thing that comes on ISN'T tentacle pron... And here's hoping im the proud owner of a brand new bicycle tomorrow 21 speed road bike here I come....if my bank cooperates.
It all started with a red Eye flight out of seattle headed to my new posting in japan. Terribly excited and even more tired once the boarding had begun. With sunrise at about 7 Am central or so these days I figured the jet had a three hour head start, so it was then we started racing the sunrise on a long cross pacific flight with no stops. Very fun times. At least the trip up to Seattle was fun, i'll never forget sitting between a flight attendant (That actually looked good) and a retired AF Pilot. I learned things talking to those two that i'll remember forever. Things such as...Halloween in New Orleans and what happens when a friend tatto's a fake pen**, wears a kilt, and talks like a caricature of a Sean Connerry caricature. Also what happens when the whole flight crew is asleep.
Getting lost in Fussa was an interesting experience. With my VERY limited grasp of Japanese finding a bicycle store (jitensha shoppu) was incredibly long and fun. Anyway, I eventually get to the store with the help of this 4 foot nothing octegenarian running to show me the way to find a great bicycle in all respects but one, It was 10 cm too shot, BUT the seat post length made up for this fact. Anyway, so through very broken engrish translations and miming gesture I get the store clerk to equip a kickstand, and minipump to this 80,300 Yen bicycle. grand total of my purchase....1100-1200 USD (depending on the exchange rate) This is where yelling at my bank comes in.
I had them install a block in my account so that no more than 900 USD can be spent in one day WHILE telling them I'd spend in the 1500 USD range on a bicycle very shortly. So either it was this...or the fact the transfer of 5 bills is still pending into my checking account that held up the transaction. So here I am blogging about of this while hoping that the nice store owner in a beat up part of Fussa honors his word and keeps my goods for me till tomorrow.
The trip back was....unique. Being as interested in other cultures as I am i decide to visit what seemed to be a small shopping center. This is where I encountered the yelling produce.. I see a few vegetable stalls outside so i go to look at what seem to be gene-modified apples. We're talking Granny smith's the size of my head (I'll take a picture when my camera arrives). So i enter the store to see among other things whole frozen fish, and foot long roots straight as an arrow that I can't even place. Then it hit me....the ever present sound of a pitch man wasn't a speaker system, but proximity sensors hidden amongst the daikon. If one enters a 5 foot radius of these sometimes not so hidden sensors they blare at you in rapid japanese the prices of the item, what it is, and other things I can't fully grasp.
To establish communications I sign a new cell phone contract with some company called and i sh** you not 'SoftBank'. The phone is a basic model, call, text, can do pictures, make video calls, scan barcodes, you know normal stuff, all twice the size of my old cell phone. The one thing truly unique about it....the users manual is ONLY in Japanese, so im stuck slowly deciphering what is sometimes a very nearly engrish menu system, and for the life of me I can't locate the 'delete' button when entering a number.
Anyway... After the adventures with produce I stop by a little bakery type place and pick up a riceball with sweet bean paste, after that another bakery and I have a fruit tart, and then I get lost. To sum it up....been up the better part of 24 hours, skipped thursday, got yelled at by vegetables, nearly bought a bike, got a new cell phone that is brick compared to my old one,bitched at my bank, had uniquely japanese food, and got lost. And you'll never believe this...encountered what was at least a 6 foot japanese woman.
This is all on the first day...any time to relax, turn on the TV, and hope the first thing that comes on ISN'T tentacle pron... And here's hoping im the proud owner of a brand new bicycle tomorrow 21 speed road bike here I come....if my bank cooperates.
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