This commercial and the one posted below have been attacking my mind with such ferocity that at times I find myself unable to think of much else.
I like the Aflac one more myself, but I can't seem to forget either of them.... These are fairly tame examples of Japanese commercials.... Some of the other ones I have seen have destroyed my brain...
In other news, I have almost beaten the elite 4 on my Pokemon Heart Gold game. Also, yesterday my family and I went to Yokohama and eventually ended up at the Pokemon store. They have an event going on right now where when you beat the elite 4 they give you a trainer card like the one in the game with all of your game information on it. I think my PA friend Asuka is planning on taking me and whomever else wants to go next Wednesday to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo. I should have the elite 4 finished by then.....
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Silver Week and Culture Shock
There are 2 major holiday blocks here in Japan. The biggest one is in the spring. Golden Week is a week where many Japanese holidays just happen to land together to form a 9 day weekend! Yay! This week is Silver Week! I have until Thursday off. So far I have done nothing...
I have had my share of experiences that made me question why I was in this increasingly strange country. I think the thing that stands out the most in my mind happened just last week. I had taken a break on my ride in to the station last Wednesday for some coffee from a small island of vending machines about halfway through my route. Consequently I missed the train I usually take and ended up waiting at the platform for a good 10 minutes. During this time I saw the most terrifying thing that a person who bikes for 15-20 minutes both ways everyday could ever see. I was playing with my I-pod, and I heard a terrible screeching sound. I looked up in time to see a 50ish looking business man on a bike get hit by a lady driving a vanish vehicle. The bike was totaled. I started looking for a way to get over to the guy without having to run through the station, when he pulled himself up and waved to the driver. He then grabbed his scrap metal bike and walked away. I could hear him apologizing from the platform. As he limped away, the lady pulled over, got out of her car and checked it for damage before driving away herself. I don't know about you, but if my bike was totaled, or if a car hit me and I was on the ground from the impact, I would probably not just walk away with a destroyed bike.... The rest of the week there was a police officer at that intersection.
This evening, as I watched my host brother struggle to read, I realized we were kind of in the same boat. I could read faster than him, but I had no idea what I was reading.... But he couldn't read at all... Hehehe
I have had my share of experiences that made me question why I was in this increasingly strange country. I think the thing that stands out the most in my mind happened just last week. I had taken a break on my ride in to the station last Wednesday for some coffee from a small island of vending machines about halfway through my route. Consequently I missed the train I usually take and ended up waiting at the platform for a good 10 minutes. During this time I saw the most terrifying thing that a person who bikes for 15-20 minutes both ways everyday could ever see. I was playing with my I-pod, and I heard a terrible screeching sound. I looked up in time to see a 50ish looking business man on a bike get hit by a lady driving a vanish vehicle. The bike was totaled. I started looking for a way to get over to the guy without having to run through the station, when he pulled himself up and waved to the driver. He then grabbed his scrap metal bike and walked away. I could hear him apologizing from the platform. As he limped away, the lady pulled over, got out of her car and checked it for damage before driving away herself. I don't know about you, but if my bike was totaled, or if a car hit me and I was on the ground from the impact, I would probably not just walk away with a destroyed bike.... The rest of the week there was a police officer at that intersection.
This evening, as I watched my host brother struggle to read, I realized we were kind of in the same boat. I could read faster than him, but I had no idea what I was reading.... But he couldn't read at all... Hehehe
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Silver Week and a Golden Weekend
This weekend has been one of firsts for me. On Friday I got my Alien Registration Card. Then I got my phone. LINK This site has the details better than I could write them.... But overall, I am loving my TV. Once I get a MicroSD card, I will use my phone as a media player as well. I'm thinking I can watch some Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, or some The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, or even Some Are You Afraid of the Dark. That will be awesome. Apparently this phone can also play flash games, so I might look into finding some.
Saturday was spent in quiet contemplation, and looking for Ghostbusters in Japanese for my host family. We found a store that rents it, but it was rented already.....
Sunday I got a call from Lance inviting me to our friend Brent's Barbeque. I went and ate delicious Yakitori or grilled bird, grilled shrimp, grilled peppered bacon, and random other meat products. There I met Brent's host-brother, he was a neat guy. So much so that we took him with us when we went to practice our terrible Karaoke skills that night. We decided that in order to maximize our training montage, we needed to approach it sober. We opted out of Nomihodai (all you can drink) this time, and instead enjoyed a fun session of friendly singing. I sang such works as Love Slave by Under17, Fruits Candy by an artist whose name I could never learn to write, Promise by MiChi, Daydream Beleiver by the Monkees, Ai No Shirushi by Puffy Ami Yumi, and another song that was introduced to me by the best teacher I ever had.
But I think the highlight of the night was the duet Brent and I sang. We sang Angel by Shaggy, he did the rap parts, I did the rest. It was amazing.
On the way home while on the train, I was playing some Pokemon and ran into a situation that occurs 8 times in 65536 or 1/8192, 2-13, or approximately 0.012207% for those mathly inclined... I found and caught a shiny version of a Pokemon I am currently using in my party. She will now replace the one I have been raising for the last week. For those of you who do not know, shiny Pokemon are Pokemon that have a different coloring that their non-shiny counterparts. If you are interested in seeing the difference, I direct you to HERE. The sprites are at the bottom of the page just above the links and name trivia section.
I would like to thank those of you who donated to my phone fund. I am still accepting donations, so feel free to contribute what you can.
Saturday was spent in quiet contemplation, and looking for Ghostbusters in Japanese for my host family. We found a store that rents it, but it was rented already.....
Sunday I got a call from Lance inviting me to our friend Brent's Barbeque. I went and ate delicious Yakitori or grilled bird, grilled shrimp, grilled peppered bacon, and random other meat products. There I met Brent's host-brother, he was a neat guy. So much so that we took him with us when we went to practice our terrible Karaoke skills that night. We decided that in order to maximize our training montage, we needed to approach it sober. We opted out of Nomihodai (all you can drink) this time, and instead enjoyed a fun session of friendly singing. I sang such works as Love Slave by Under17, Fruits Candy by an artist whose name I could never learn to write, Promise by MiChi, Daydream Beleiver by the Monkees, Ai No Shirushi by Puffy Ami Yumi, and another song that was introduced to me by the best teacher I ever had.
But I think the highlight of the night was the duet Brent and I sang. We sang Angel by Shaggy, he did the rap parts, I did the rest. It was amazing.
On the way home while on the train, I was playing some Pokemon and ran into a situation that occurs 8 times in 65536 or 1/8192, 2-13, or approximately 0.012207% for those mathly inclined... I found and caught a shiny version of a Pokemon I am currently using in my party. She will now replace the one I have been raising for the last week. For those of you who do not know, shiny Pokemon are Pokemon that have a different coloring that their non-shiny counterparts. If you are interested in seeing the difference, I direct you to HERE. The sprites are at the bottom of the page just above the links and name trivia section.
I would like to thank those of you who donated to my phone fund. I am still accepting donations, so feel free to contribute what you can.
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