That`s right. I`ve now got a keitai (cell phone). That means whole new corridors of Japan are now open to me. Fast communication with my friends near Osaka, or the other JETs in the area will now replace the quiet nights at home in isolation. Speaking of other JETs, we had a prefectural meeting yesterday, which...was perhaps not very helpful. But, it was good to hang out with people and get a chance to cut loose afterward. We went to a British Pub and I had a few drinks before we went on the karaoke til the night wore on. Unfortunately, since I have to catch a train then a bus, I had to leave earlier than others. And, to top it off, I missed my bus on the way home! Luckily, My one great japanese contact in my city, we can call her Ms. Awesome, came to the rescue and picked me up from the train station. Ms. Awesome is almost the polar opposite of L-San (though their names are almost identical...how weird is that?). She`s helpful, not controlling, not patronizing, and generally nice to be around. I`m certainly thankful that I`ve got such a nice person on my side.
Now for the real update:
I never thought I would say this, but I am pretty upset at the Olympic coverage here in Japan. Japanese television is, of course, horrible. I was excited to watch the Olympics, maybe feel a spark of jingoistic patriotism as I watched the Americans take medal after medal. ...Or at least, due to the simplistic narrative of the Olympics games (bunch of people compete, some of them win), understand what is happening on the television for once.
...But, no. In Japan, they are only showing events that Japan is competing in (and have a good chance of winning). And, if Japan wins something, they`ll just show the last seconds over and over and over again, all day. I think I`ve watched the female judo winner like, 13 times in the last two days. And to top it off, the commentary is really bad. ...Not that I can understand it too much. But, in the states, we would have like, former Olympic medal winners talking about events. Again, in Japan, things are different. They just have Paris Hilton-style TaRenTos (talents) from reality television comment after events, saying things like `Such a shame!` or `They did it! Great!`
Anyway, WTF Japan? Way to crush my blossoming patriotism. ...Oh, actually ...seriously, thanks, Japan. I almost lost it there for a moment, in the monotonous mental chanting of `USA! USA! USA!` It has been replaced by `Let the best (wo)man win ... and let me read about it on the BBC days after the fact`.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Some things are universal
Ah, today is blessedly cool compared to the last couple of days. Japan can be quite enjoyable, when you`re not sweating your ass off.
It`s really quite funny. Here in Japan, the emphasis on the workplace is how busy you LOOK, not how busy you ARE. It`s a nation full of paper-shufflers and desk-rearrangers. As I said previously, this place may have birthed Bureaucracy. Apparently, the private sector is very efficient and the public sector (like, oh...public school) is very inefficient.
So, because we have to look busy, it`s required that the teachers come into the office even when school is not in session, such as is the case now). Only...where are all the other teachers? Apparently, the other ALT and myself are required to come in (even though we have literally nothing to do), and the other teachers can take off and do whatever they want. Which...is fine with me. Internet is nice! Also...what else have I got to do? It`s just unfortunate that, as one of the two white guys in the city, I am pretty high profile. Anyway...I don`t really mind at all. But the other ALT does. Alot!
On a really funny note...
The other day, I was being transported to get my keitai (cellphone) by a nice japanese guy who works for the school department. Only...he doesn`t speak hardly any English at all. So...I knew the word for music and listen, so I asked what kind of music he listens to. And, all the sudden, the floodgates of communication open. It was hilarious! He was like `American Hip-Hop!` And we had a whole conversation by just naming bands and indicating whether they were good or bad. It was like `Eru Eru Kooru Jei (L L Cool J.) *laughing*` `Shai Pu Resu Hiru (Cypress Hill) *more laughing*` `Ennu Dabyu E (N.W.A)` etc. Then I was recommending bands like `Beastie Boys? ...Bi su ti bo i su?` `hai! Kakkoi (cool!)`, and then, the best, I was like `Wu Tang? Wu Tan gu?` and this guy, out of nowhere was shouting in bad English that he probably didn`t understand `Wu Tang Clan ain`t nothing to fuck with, Wu Tang Clan ain`t nothing to fuck with!...Dorra dorra biru yaru! (dollar, dollar bill y`all). ...Priceless.
It`s really quite funny. Here in Japan, the emphasis on the workplace is how busy you LOOK, not how busy you ARE. It`s a nation full of paper-shufflers and desk-rearrangers. As I said previously, this place may have birthed Bureaucracy. Apparently, the private sector is very efficient and the public sector (like, oh...public school) is very inefficient.
So, because we have to look busy, it`s required that the teachers come into the office even when school is not in session, such as is the case now). Only...where are all the other teachers? Apparently, the other ALT and myself are required to come in (even though we have literally nothing to do), and the other teachers can take off and do whatever they want. Which...is fine with me. Internet is nice! Also...what else have I got to do? It`s just unfortunate that, as one of the two white guys in the city, I am pretty high profile. Anyway...I don`t really mind at all. But the other ALT does. Alot!
On a really funny note...
The other day, I was being transported to get my keitai (cellphone) by a nice japanese guy who works for the school department. Only...he doesn`t speak hardly any English at all. So...I knew the word for music and listen, so I asked what kind of music he listens to. And, all the sudden, the floodgates of communication open. It was hilarious! He was like `American Hip-Hop!` And we had a whole conversation by just naming bands and indicating whether they were good or bad. It was like `Eru Eru Kooru Jei (L L Cool J.) *laughing*` `Shai Pu Resu Hiru (Cypress Hill) *more laughing*` `Ennu Dabyu E (N.W.A)` etc. Then I was recommending bands like `Beastie Boys? ...Bi su ti bo i su?` `hai! Kakkoi (cool!)`, and then, the best, I was like `Wu Tang? Wu Tan gu?` and this guy, out of nowhere was shouting in bad English that he probably didn`t understand `Wu Tang Clan ain`t nothing to fuck with, Wu Tang Clan ain`t nothing to fuck with!...Dorra dorra biru yaru! (dollar, dollar bill y`all). ...Priceless.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Goodbye, L-San!
It is hot here. 37 degrees Celsius. Which is around 100 Fahrenheit. Needless to say that the bikeride here left me one soggy American. I now realize why it is totally socially acceptable to have a towel tied around your neck/head out here (often with kawaii cartoon characters all over them). Because, without a `sweatmop` (as I have dubbed it), you look like a `tard when you arrive anywhere. I had sweated through the knees of my jeans. ...It sounds gross, doesn`t it? That`s because it is very gross.
On a related note, allow me to tell you about my sweet ride. It`s called a `mama-cherri`- An old woman`s bike. Everybody has them here, and there`s a standard model and everything, parked outside of every grocery store. Not...quite like my road bike back home (that spruced up Murray!), but it seems extremely dependable. And...scoff if you will, but the front basket, while making you look like a fool, can carry some groceries. ...Which brings me back to point 1 - the heat. It`s nice to keep all that junk off your back, while you`re pedaling around rural Japan.
My sole bane in Japan now is a certain woman. I will call her, for the sake of anonymity, L-San. L-San is not related to my position here at all. Her English is not very good (not that I`m saying everyone`s must be! This is Japan afterall, not London...but it would be nice if my `translator` could tell me what was going on), but she insists on becoming my `host mother`. She actually told me, on the first day that I`d met her, that I should call her `mom`. ...I politely refused.
Anyway...she keeps telling me that I need to go to her workplace, rather than my workplace, and spend the day with her. Only...I don`t like hanging out with L-San at all, and she treats me like a child. When I was paying for something in a shop yesterday, L-San reached into my hand and took my money to pay the cashier. She is in no way related to my job, or my time here in Japan, but she keeps making plans for me without asking, which is very frustrating. On top of that, she forces me to parrot out japanese in front of people so that she can boast about how good of a teacher she is. My predecessor had warned me against her, and I`ve heard some horrifying stories that I won`t repeat here.
I almost feel bad about it, but I`ve told her that I`m not going to spend more time with her. I was brought here to teach kids, not to entertain L-San. And, as far as my time in Japan is concerned, I can get to Tokyo on my own. I`m not a child, and I don`t appreciate being treated like one.
(Also, the horrors of my first day here in town were compounded [possibly caused] by L-San. She was the one that picked me up and brought me to the mayor`s office and things. And, if it had been someone else, like the other ALT in town, there would never have been any cause for alarm. My entire negative first experience was directly impacted by L-San`s insistence to be in control of my situation.)
Geez, that was a little bit of a rant. Or, as we call it in the blogosphere, an `update`...
On a related note, allow me to tell you about my sweet ride. It`s called a `mama-cherri`- An old woman`s bike. Everybody has them here, and there`s a standard model and everything, parked outside of every grocery store. Not...quite like my road bike back home (that spruced up Murray!), but it seems extremely dependable. And...scoff if you will, but the front basket, while making you look like a fool, can carry some groceries. ...Which brings me back to point 1 - the heat. It`s nice to keep all that junk off your back, while you`re pedaling around rural Japan.
My sole bane in Japan now is a certain woman. I will call her, for the sake of anonymity, L-San. L-San is not related to my position here at all. Her English is not very good (not that I`m saying everyone`s must be! This is Japan afterall, not London...but it would be nice if my `translator` could tell me what was going on), but she insists on becoming my `host mother`. She actually told me, on the first day that I`d met her, that I should call her `mom`. ...I politely refused.
Anyway...she keeps telling me that I need to go to her workplace, rather than my workplace, and spend the day with her. Only...I don`t like hanging out with L-San at all, and she treats me like a child. When I was paying for something in a shop yesterday, L-San reached into my hand and took my money to pay the cashier. She is in no way related to my job, or my time here in Japan, but she keeps making plans for me without asking, which is very frustrating. On top of that, she forces me to parrot out japanese in front of people so that she can boast about how good of a teacher she is. My predecessor had warned me against her, and I`ve heard some horrifying stories that I won`t repeat here.
I almost feel bad about it, but I`ve told her that I`m not going to spend more time with her. I was brought here to teach kids, not to entertain L-San. And, as far as my time in Japan is concerned, I can get to Tokyo on my own. I`m not a child, and I don`t appreciate being treated like one.
(Also, the horrors of my first day here in town were compounded [possibly caused] by L-San. She was the one that picked me up and brought me to the mayor`s office and things. And, if it had been someone else, like the other ALT in town, there would never have been any cause for alarm. My entire negative first experience was directly impacted by L-San`s insistence to be in control of my situation.)
Geez, that was a little bit of a rant. Or, as we call it in the blogosphere, an `update`...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I feel like a salaryman.
I`m sitting the staffroom of the Junior High School. I have just a few quick things to say.
1) I cannot believe the internet in Japan. It`s probably the most ridiculous thing about the whole country, nevermind the pervo-porn, raw squid snacks, etc. I talked to someone from Yahoo BB about getting internet in my apartment, and he told me I have to wait 4-6 weeks to find out if I`m eligible for the internet. WTF? Seriously? Like...what if, God forbid, I wait 6 weeks to be told that I`m ineligible, and have to seek another provider? Then I have to apply with them, wait another 4-6 weeks to find out from them, etc. For a single, white gaijin a long way from home, 3 months without free contact home seems a bit like torture.
2) I`m adapting much better now. I`m picking up like, 10 vocab words a day, and even some kanji. With any luck, a little determination, I might have passable japanese whenever I finish my JET contract. That`s something to be excited about, I think.
To be totally honest, it would make me feel like a badass. It`s gonna be really funny to be that guy who can decipher both arabic and japanese...let alone whatever languages I can accumulate later. It`s gonna be TIGHT, and that`s a fact. Sorry for the self-indulgence.
4-6 weeks? Honestly. I thought this was the land of giant fighting robots and instant access to information. What I`ve slowly been realizing, however, is that Japan is actually just the birthplace of bureaucracy. It`s funny how similar Japan can be like home.
1) I cannot believe the internet in Japan. It`s probably the most ridiculous thing about the whole country, nevermind the pervo-porn, raw squid snacks, etc. I talked to someone from Yahoo BB about getting internet in my apartment, and he told me I have to wait 4-6 weeks to find out if I`m eligible for the internet. WTF? Seriously? Like...what if, God forbid, I wait 6 weeks to be told that I`m ineligible, and have to seek another provider? Then I have to apply with them, wait another 4-6 weeks to find out from them, etc. For a single, white gaijin a long way from home, 3 months without free contact home seems a bit like torture.
2) I`m adapting much better now. I`m picking up like, 10 vocab words a day, and even some kanji. With any luck, a little determination, I might have passable japanese whenever I finish my JET contract. That`s something to be excited about, I think.
To be totally honest, it would make me feel like a badass. It`s gonna be really funny to be that guy who can decipher both arabic and japanese...let alone whatever languages I can accumulate later. It`s gonna be TIGHT, and that`s a fact. Sorry for the self-indulgence.
4-6 weeks? Honestly. I thought this was the land of giant fighting robots and instant access to information. What I`ve slowly been realizing, however, is that Japan is actually just the birthplace of bureaucracy. It`s funny how similar Japan can be like home.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Ossu?
Well, here I am. Safe and sound and in Saitama. It`s a very nice place. It reminds of my small hometown in a lot of ways. There are fields everywhere, and it has a nice rural feel to it. Of course, it is much bigger than where I grew up, but it combines the rural and the residential in a really cool way. I`m not sure how to photos on this blog, but if I can`t figure out how to do it, I`ll include a link to a photobucket account or something.
I really intended to update more often than I`ve been able to. I don`t have the internet at my apartment, yet...which has actually been the cause of a great deal of stress. Long story, really. First day that I got into Saitama, I met up with two representitives for Saitama. One was very nice, though he didn`t speak hardly any English. The other spoke okay English (L-San!), but it was still rudimentary (which is fine, you know? I`m here to teach it...at least there`s someone who can help me order food). I was really jetlagged, and had not been eating hardly anything because I`d been so nervous, and wasn`t sleeping hardly at all. I kept having this weird vertigo sort of sweep over me, where I`d feel certain I was about to fall over. So, after all this, I get taken to a government office where I need to pick up a Gaijin card. And already my body is like, failing me...and I was making an effort to speak japanese, but people kept laughing, probably not at me...but it didn`t help me feel any better. After all this, I get introduced to the mayor, who I then horribly offend with my lack of etiquette concerning meishi (business cards). I had bowed a lot and said polite things like `Please continue to look favorably on me` and things...which I understand could be funny. But, then someone comes into the office, and bows really deeply, like a full bow...as if he were greeting the emperor or something, and introduced himself as `a Japanese man.` I felt like he was having a go at me, so I introduced myself as `stupid foreigner`. ...Then the office got really quiet, and I was sent home for two days holiday.
I took it really hard initially like...`Oh, how did I mess up so much?` But...really, I`m trying here. I`m trying to learn the language, I`m trying to have a good time along the way, and if that`s not what I`m supposed to do, they can send me home.
The last couple of days have been really horrible, though. I`m totally over it now...but just sitting at home, sleeping 12 hours, waking up at 5 in the morning and not having anything to do all day but sit is hard. It felt like some strange kind of torture. Like...there`s no contact to the outside world, I don`t know anyone here, I can`t meet them because I don`t speak japanese yet, there was no internet, I can`t understand the TV, etc. ...Only, I couldn`t leave my house, because it was the only way my bosses could contact me, you know? I went for a couple of short walks, but ultimately, I just had a bit of a cry on the phone (I called my brother and mother, paying god knows how much for direct international calls...I considered it an emergency at the time).
Anyway...this is deviating from my initial plan for this blog. I didn`t want to get too personal, but for all my friends and family reading, I had my first freakout, but I`m doing much, much better now. As soon as I get the internet at my apartment, I`ll be fantastic.
As far as Tokyo Orientation goes...that was truly amazing. I mean...getting up early, and getting well-dressed (my school is aparently super laid back...so I have all these dress-clothes for nothing. I`m going to wear them, and my kids will think I`m just some straight-laced dude...*shudder), and sitting through long, hot lectures was a bit taxing. But, after that, we`d go karaoke (which I did for the first time...and it was AMAZINGLY fun), or hit up an Izakaya (bar and restaurant). I even got a drink on top of the Keio building, overlooking all of Tokyo. Pretty amazing things. I met really cool people, and got very excited to teach...especially grade school. I`ll essentially be like Barnie without a costume. ...Tight.
I miss one person in particular, and it`s hard to think about a whole year without them.
Hello, to all my friends, from Japan.
I really intended to update more often than I`ve been able to. I don`t have the internet at my apartment, yet...which has actually been the cause of a great deal of stress. Long story, really. First day that I got into Saitama, I met up with two representitives for Saitama. One was very nice, though he didn`t speak hardly any English. The other spoke okay English (L-San!), but it was still rudimentary (which is fine, you know? I`m here to teach it...at least there`s someone who can help me order food). I was really jetlagged, and had not been eating hardly anything because I`d been so nervous, and wasn`t sleeping hardly at all. I kept having this weird vertigo sort of sweep over me, where I`d feel certain I was about to fall over. So, after all this, I get taken to a government office where I need to pick up a Gaijin card. And already my body is like, failing me...and I was making an effort to speak japanese, but people kept laughing, probably not at me...but it didn`t help me feel any better. After all this, I get introduced to the mayor, who I then horribly offend with my lack of etiquette concerning meishi (business cards). I had bowed a lot and said polite things like `Please continue to look favorably on me` and things...which I understand could be funny. But, then someone comes into the office, and bows really deeply, like a full bow...as if he were greeting the emperor or something, and introduced himself as `a Japanese man.` I felt like he was having a go at me, so I introduced myself as `stupid foreigner`. ...Then the office got really quiet, and I was sent home for two days holiday.
I took it really hard initially like...`Oh, how did I mess up so much?` But...really, I`m trying here. I`m trying to learn the language, I`m trying to have a good time along the way, and if that`s not what I`m supposed to do, they can send me home.
The last couple of days have been really horrible, though. I`m totally over it now...but just sitting at home, sleeping 12 hours, waking up at 5 in the morning and not having anything to do all day but sit is hard. It felt like some strange kind of torture. Like...there`s no contact to the outside world, I don`t know anyone here, I can`t meet them because I don`t speak japanese yet, there was no internet, I can`t understand the TV, etc. ...Only, I couldn`t leave my house, because it was the only way my bosses could contact me, you know? I went for a couple of short walks, but ultimately, I just had a bit of a cry on the phone (I called my brother and mother, paying god knows how much for direct international calls...I considered it an emergency at the time).
Anyway...this is deviating from my initial plan for this blog. I didn`t want to get too personal, but for all my friends and family reading, I had my first freakout, but I`m doing much, much better now. As soon as I get the internet at my apartment, I`ll be fantastic.
As far as Tokyo Orientation goes...that was truly amazing. I mean...getting up early, and getting well-dressed (my school is aparently super laid back...so I have all these dress-clothes for nothing. I`m going to wear them, and my kids will think I`m just some straight-laced dude...*shudder), and sitting through long, hot lectures was a bit taxing. But, after that, we`d go karaoke (which I did for the first time...and it was AMAZINGLY fun), or hit up an Izakaya (bar and restaurant). I even got a drink on top of the Keio building, overlooking all of Tokyo. Pretty amazing things. I met really cool people, and got very excited to teach...especially grade school. I`ll essentially be like Barnie without a costume. ...Tight.
I miss one person in particular, and it`s hard to think about a whole year without them.
Hello, to all my friends, from Japan.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Oppai or Ippai?
Today has been a bag of horrible emotions. They are all volatile, and waiting to come out. They are horrible in the sense that they are intense, and can't easily be coded into words and expelled.
Let me start again. Today was my orientation in Chicago. Tomorrow, I get onto a plane headed for Tokyo, where adventure and the deadly "kancho" await. ...But, probably more on that later.
Today, I sat through many helpful parts of the orientation...but, it was also very sterile and boring. I had the same conversations about a hundred times with all the other nervous JETs.
Then I realized how sad I would be in Japan. Not sad, really. But...geez. I feel safe and secure and things around me feel familiar at home. But...I realized today that I'm wearing clothes I don't feel good in, and that I don't identify with, and that I'm all out of context for the people I'm meeting. And...those people who do know me...won't have any say or influence where I'm going, because we'll be all over the island. And...if I ever want that feeling of safety and familiarity again...I'll have to create it myself, in a place where I don't even speak the language. ....Needless to say, I got pretty upset. I kept getting nervous and feeling like I'd made some kind of mistake.
It's very hard to say goodbye to someone you love. I want to say more, but it's really quite hard. Why does the difference between staying one year and staying two years seem to bother me so much?
(post script)
Things are a little better now. I'm in Tokyo at the hotel, and I've got orientations all day today. I'm not freaking out right now...but, things here are weird. This post was written in a late-night freak out before I left, and though I still have many issues to freak out about...things are just fine now.
Last night in Tokyo, I hung out with some people and ate at a japanese restaurant, which was amazing and pretty cheap (I thought Tokyo was expensive!). We caught a beer in a Western bar, and it felt really weird. My new friend Rock mentioned that it felt like Chicago, and I was shocked at how right he was. I needn't freak out. THere's a little Tokyo in Chicago, and there's a little Chicago in Tokyo. I guess that's where we're at in this modern world. There's no such thing as goodbye anymore, because we can keep in touch almost instantaneously.
More later...
Let me start again. Today was my orientation in Chicago. Tomorrow, I get onto a plane headed for Tokyo, where adventure and the deadly "kancho" await. ...But, probably more on that later.
Today, I sat through many helpful parts of the orientation...but, it was also very sterile and boring. I had the same conversations about a hundred times with all the other nervous JETs.
Then I realized how sad I would be in Japan. Not sad, really. But...geez. I feel safe and secure and things around me feel familiar at home. But...I realized today that I'm wearing clothes I don't feel good in, and that I don't identify with, and that I'm all out of context for the people I'm meeting. And...those people who do know me...won't have any say or influence where I'm going, because we'll be all over the island. And...if I ever want that feeling of safety and familiarity again...I'll have to create it myself, in a place where I don't even speak the language. ....Needless to say, I got pretty upset. I kept getting nervous and feeling like I'd made some kind of mistake.
It's very hard to say goodbye to someone you love. I want to say more, but it's really quite hard. Why does the difference between staying one year and staying two years seem to bother me so much?
(post script)
Things are a little better now. I'm in Tokyo at the hotel, and I've got orientations all day today. I'm not freaking out right now...but, things here are weird. This post was written in a late-night freak out before I left, and though I still have many issues to freak out about...things are just fine now.
Last night in Tokyo, I hung out with some people and ate at a japanese restaurant, which was amazing and pretty cheap (I thought Tokyo was expensive!). We caught a beer in a Western bar, and it felt really weird. My new friend Rock mentioned that it felt like Chicago, and I was shocked at how right he was. I needn't freak out. THere's a little Tokyo in Chicago, and there's a little Chicago in Tokyo. I guess that's where we're at in this modern world. There's no such thing as goodbye anymore, because we can keep in touch almost instantaneously.
More later...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
July already?
It's like squinting through fog and seeing something huge take shape and materialize before your eyes. I'm realizing quickly, and with horror, that my days in America are truly limited. This is difficult for me for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I've come to know and love a lot of people here in Indiana. It's incredibly difficult to see someone for what might be the last time and try to find the words to express how great it's been to know them, and what a gap they'll leave in my life while I'm gone and lonely. I had a going away party back at my folks' house, and it was so hard to see everyone and tell them goodbye. Oh well ... just one more inevitable step.
Secondly, the political situation in America is just becoming tolerable! Minimum wage just finished increasing (which is huge, for a minimum-wage-earner), which gives me something like 20 hours earning the new minimum before I leave. To top it off, we actually might have a Democrat in the house! And he's black! ...Tell me if that's not some kind of progress. (...at least compared to the last eight years? ...That's what a thought.)
On the upside of the political issue, there's an Obama, Japan. And they're really excited that someone shares their name. Classically Japanese motivation for getting enthused. I might spend election night in Obama just so I can be around a bunch of excited people, if he wins.
Anyway...things are getting good in the USA, so of course I'm on my way out the door. Perhaps, by the time I get back we'll have something rad like socialized education or medicine! ...Or maybe I shouldn't hope too high...
The shape in the mist is beginning to look a lot like me with a backpack, waving goodbye.
And, really, what else could it look like?
Firstly, I've come to know and love a lot of people here in Indiana. It's incredibly difficult to see someone for what might be the last time and try to find the words to express how great it's been to know them, and what a gap they'll leave in my life while I'm gone and lonely. I had a going away party back at my folks' house, and it was so hard to see everyone and tell them goodbye. Oh well ... just one more inevitable step.
Secondly, the political situation in America is just becoming tolerable! Minimum wage just finished increasing (which is huge, for a minimum-wage-earner), which gives me something like 20 hours earning the new minimum before I leave. To top it off, we actually might have a Democrat in the house! And he's black! ...Tell me if that's not some kind of progress. (...at least compared to the last eight years? ...That's what a thought.)
On the upside of the political issue, there's an Obama, Japan. And they're really excited that someone shares their name. Classically Japanese motivation for getting enthused. I might spend election night in Obama just so I can be around a bunch of excited people, if he wins.
Anyway...things are getting good in the USA, so of course I'm on my way out the door. Perhaps, by the time I get back we'll have something rad like socialized education or medicine! ...Or maybe I shouldn't hope too high...
The shape in the mist is beginning to look a lot like me with a backpack, waving goodbye.
And, really, what else could it look like?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)