Advertisement
Published: November 11th 2008
Edit Blog Post
So I haven't updated in ages, but that's alright. That means I've been busy, and being busy is much better than being bored. Also, please forgive any bad English in this and future entries - I'm focusing so much on Japanese that I'm forgetting English little by little.
Things have been going pretty damn well here in Japan. My classes are difficult, but I'm learning a lot in a rather quick manner. I'm beginning to understand more and more of what's said to me, no matter what the context or conversation topic might be. I'm still having trouble speaking Japanese quickly - too many English speakers in the dorm = too much English spoken in general = I'm still thinking in English. Oh well.
A lot of interesting things have happened lately: the school had both its Sports Festival and Culture Festival, both of which I attended and both of which were very fun. The Sports Fest isn't a serious thing at all - people dress up in costume (or just their underwear) and just kinda go wild. The thing about Japanese culture is that kids are brought up to be one part of the group: if you stray
Sports Fest
Even us foreigners got a little crazy... from the group, you're outcast immediately and you're going to have a very hard time making and keeping friends for the rest of your school life. Because of that, on Sports Fest day, people go absolutely crazy because it's acceptable to do so on that day. It's kind of an excuse to say, "Screw how we were brought up, let's make fools of ourselves because we've never been able to do that before," and do exactly that.
The Culture Festival is much more serious, though still fun. It's mostly the different clubs on campus setting up booths and selling various kinds of Japanese food, desserts, etc. There was some live music and dancing as well, but I was suffering from a wicked cold that day so I missed those events. Oh well. It's crazy how much these students work in preparation for the Culture Fest: staying up anywhere from one to five in the morning every night for a month to prepare everything. It's kind of ridiculous how much work they put into it, but I suppose that's just my foreigner view. I sure as hell would never sacrifice that much of my free time just to sell food to
Halloween Group
This was how many people came to our Halloween Party. It was an epic time. people at MSU if we had a Culture Day.
Another cool thing was that the exchange students all got taken to Miyazaki, which is the prefecture south of Kumamoto prefecture, by the Office of International Programs ladies, to visit the Gokase Winery (where we got to chill and drink wine for an hour) and the Takachiho Gorge, which is probably one of the most amazing places I've ever been. It would have been much more awesome had there not been a lot of people there - it was Saturday when we went, and it's a popular place to go for lovers and married couples so it was pretty crowded.
I've been clubbing a lot lately. I've made friends with two DJs at two different clubs so far, and they're both cool people. I'm introducing them to a lot of new music, which they will hopefully start spinning at their clubs within the near future. I've realized that dancing while drunk has got to be one of the funnest things in existence. Dancing sober is nice and all, especially at a club where there's good, overly-loud music; but when you're drunk, you just don't care what everyone else on
Sexy, right?
This is my and Anna, the two sexiest beasts ever. the dance floor thinks, and thus have a lot more fun not being self-conscious. Another badass thing is that because I'm a white guy, and apparently significantly attractive, I can pretty much ask any girl at any club to dance and she will gladly accept my invitation. It's always fun being popular, right?
I cut my hair the other day, down to about an inch and a half or so. I think it looks pretty good, and everyone who's seen it says the same. I had my friends Anna, Junpei and Mio cut it for me - saved myself $25 and it was fun for all of us. I'm probably gonna dye it a dark blue sometime soon, or maybe purple. I'm in Japan, I'm going to get stared at anyway...why not have a legitimate reason other than being a foreigner? I was also thinking about getting an ear piercing o three, or maybe an eyebrow. Who knows? I really don't like making plans since I've come here. I pretty much live minute by minute, which I find very refreshing. I think I can do that because I don't really have any responsibility here in Japan, other than going
Halloween I
Beer pong ACTION SHOT to class and studying. I'm pretty much free do to whatever the hell I want. It's fun to say the least.
I think I can honestly say that, at this point, I do not want to come back to America. Or at least Montana. I know everyone in Montana; there are no clubs in Montana; there are no...people, in Montana. There's pretty much mountains and forests, small towns and drunken weekends for people my age, all of which get old. If I do come back to America, there's no way I'm going to be able to go back to MSU and feel good about that choice. The Japanese classes are just...way, way, way too easy. I wouldn't learn enough. Even if I went to UM, which has one of the best Japanese Language programs in the States, I still wouldn't learn enough. I should probably just stay in Japan for the rest of my life, eh?
Anyway, that's all I've got right now. Time to make some stir fry or summat - I'm friggin' hungreh!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0382s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
craken
non-member comment
Forest and mountains get old, eh? I've been thinking about it...and I don't know if I want to leave here now. I always used to think about Europe and have day dreams of living there. I guess Montana has woven a kind of spell around me though. Anyway, glad you love it there, bro. It makes me happy you found some place you really enjoy and wouldn't mind living in. Seeya.