War.. HUH!

Kuniyoshi and his mouth mask

In Japan, it is common to use a mouth mask when you are sick, in respect to those who have to be around you and doesn't want to catch your nasty germs - though many people seem to be wearing them all the time. It's pretty weird to most foreigners.

It's difficult, trying to communicate with the lady at the city hall, when her mouth mask is covering half of her face and you can't see her facial expressions. Often I see entire families with a bunch of small children, all wearing masks, and I wonder if they are thinking that the mask will protect them, and what kind of signals they give their children, always making them wear these masks. I mean, aren't you supposed to be exposed to a certain amount of germs, and that it'll help building your immune system, or some sheit?

Oh, what do I know. In our house it was always "the ten-second rule" that counted, and if there was a bug in our soup it was considered as "extra protein".

And we're all healthy as a horse.

Stop being so paranoid and at least start washing your hands more often, Japanese people.

Calligraphy Club people

Today we were invited to the calligraphy club at school. I don't have an artistic bone in my body, but having the opportunity to play around with a big brush and black ink for one afternoon - and to be able to say that I've tried real Japanese calligraphy - was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Lotte

First we were given prints of kanjis (Chinese characters) to practise copying on to the special calligraphy paper. Then they translated our names into kanjis, so we could practise them too.

Calligraphy is hard. You have to hold the big brush in a special way, not the same way you would hold a paint brush. Then, of course, you have to write in the specific stroke order of the kanji, and put pressure on the right places and bla, bla, bla. You're not supposed to rest your arm on the table either.

My name written by those who knew what they were doing

My name written in kanji is the character for hope (ki) and sound (ne).

The clutter on the paper in the middle is my take on writing it

I think calligraphy requires a type of patience that I don't possess.

I got bored pretty quickly. I had to fight the urge to take the brush and war paint my face with black ink.

I doubt that would have been very popular.

Miracle Fruit Party

Miracle fruit is a berry that contains the protein Miraculin that changes the perception of taste.

It makes anything sour taste sweet. We tried it just for fun, but it is also known for helping diabetics and chemotherapy patients that sometimes suffer a change of flavors because of their treatment.

I've always wanted to try this miracle fruit since I saw it in an episode of "United States of Tara".

Finally, after coming to Japan, I managed to get my friends interested in trying it too, and we ordered it freeze-dried in tablet form offline. A few days ago it arrived, and after school today we hurried to the local Jusco to gather ingredients for our little experiment.

Most of the stuff I got the idea from reading about other people trying it, some other things, like umeboshi, we wanted to try just for fun.


This is what we got

- lemon
- two different kinds of lime
- two different kinds of grapefruit
- pineapple
- tomatoes
- tabasco sauce
- olives
- pickles
- balsamic vinegar
- beer
- umeboshi - Japanese pickled plum




Before our Mairacle Fruit experiment Kuniyoshi made us all a typical Japanese meal, consisting of different types of soba - Japanese buckwheat noodles, vegetables and tofu - soya curd. I wish I could eat like this everyday, and I would turn into a petite Japanese chick in no time.

Maybe not.

おいしい！

Kuniyoshi and Cat

We asked Kuniyoshi if he'd ever heard of miracle fruits before, which he hadn't. He made big eyes when he saw me putting out all of the lemon and lime.

When we all put the miracle fruit tablets in our mouths, convincing him it was a "special drug", he was a little sceptical.

The tablet itself didn't taste that much, but it still wasn't very pleasant. It was like sucking on a vitamin pill you're supposed to swallow. When it had desolved we all tried a piece of lemon first.



It was pretty interesting. All of the lemon, lime and grapefruit was still a bit "zingy", but you could eat it, without getting a sour face, and it wasn't any bitter. Cat and Benedicte who normally don't like grapefruit enjoyed it. Three lemons, two average size limes and three small ones were quickly eaten.

Maybe it's not a good idea to do this very often. Our poor stomach.

The tomato and pineapple were incredibly sweet., but still tomatoes are best at it's "normal state", I think.

The rest of the stuff was pretty much the same, to my disappointment. Of course, it tasted somewhat different - sweeter, but you still won't be able to chug tabasco or balsamic vinegar. Umeboshi is still horrible and pickles won't taste like candy. I might have got a bit too high expectations from watching peoples reactions on youtube.

All in all a fun experiment, but I think I prefer my beer as it is normally.

After school work-out

Wictoria - my partner in crime

What I really like the best is to sit on my ass and binge.

But, no way José, can't do that all the time. So after school today Wictoria and I went to the humble gym room at school for some much needed body maintenance. I'm glad I finally got around to locate the gym, considering I haven't been working out since I came to Japan.

The gym room at school isn't exactly like the big sports arena I'm used to going to back home. But at least it's free and it has everything you need to get a somewhat decent work-out, though the sport machines are old, squeaky and rusty - and some of them seem to be made for small Asian people. Anyway, time to continue the work on my manish appearance!

I went to the gym for the first time in my life back in April this year. I'd never even touched a set of free weights, let alone run on a treadmill. I'd been doing TaeKwon-Do for ten years and were used to the comfort of people making me work out, and had never pictured myself having enough self dicipline to work my own ass out without anyone yelling in my ear, telling me to do 50 push-ups.

Well, it turned out it was pretty liberating, being able run the show on my own terms, going to the gym whenever I felt like it, instead of always having to plan everything after the scheduled classes.

Enough talk, more of me ego-trippin'.

Oh, yah. This is how I sleep

Well, aren't 'I' the sporty one. Like my favourite Thai saying:
If there's no one praising you, you gotta praise yourself

Hmm.. what do we have here?

They can't possibly have updated this gym room since the 80's.
We had a lot of fun with it, though *snigger*

Wictoria's ear phones

Local porn shop

What is this humongous bright pink, yellow and blue ugly-bugly building that looks like a underwater boat or a spaceship, you say? Why, of course, it's the local porn shop. Two stories high, and stands out so much it's not even funny, not fitting in at all with it's neutral surroundings. Strange.

Friday Afternoon -Supiikingu Paatonaa

A couple of tired hard-workin' students

Yet another week survived at Josai International University, aka. Everything-I-didn't-like-about-high-school-all-over-again.

Besides, I'm starting to grow this recentment towards Super Mario-sensee, aka. ADD-sensee, aka. I-don't-really-give-a-crap-what-you-call-him-but-he-is-still-acting-like-a-duck-on-speed-sensee, just because he brings me physical pain - whenever I'm in his class I'll leave with a headace.

You see, I have this annoying habit of actually paying attention to my teacher. He'll usually hand out a bunch of tasks that requires somewhat focus, then start procrastinating, and I find myself spending a lot of effort trying to figure out how what he's yatting on about actually has something to do with what we're doing. Soon I realise that he's talking about the bla-bla game that's coming out bla-bla.

When he finally stops talking and we get the chance to focus on the hand-outs, he'll start beatboxing. For real.

He's over 50.

When I give him a look, telling him to shut up, he'll make this annoying little laugh and say "sumimaseeen" and then be quiet for a little while before he starts again.

After a while I'll get fed up and look like the bad mood that has built up. Then he'll say "I know this subject is boooring/difficult, sumimaseeen", trying to sound sympathetic.

Doh! No, your subject is actually pretty simple, I just wish you'd shut up already, and do your job. I can't believe I'm paying money for this.

Yes, sunbathing in Japan is totally normal in the middle of October

Bug of the day

My awesome speaking partner!

I spent the intire Friday evening together with one of my speaking partners, Miku-san. We were planning on having dinner, but since none of us were hungry, we decided to go to my place and make some hotto keeki with chocolate.

I held her captive at my beloved apaato until 9 p.m. Then my voice was all raspy from talking so much (you'd think I was immune by now).

Miku-san is just awesome. She's well reflected and intelligent, and we can actually have a discussion. She cares about what is going on in the world, hooray! Finally I'm feeling that my Japanese is adequate, too, and that I'm able to get my point across.

She actually wants to become a high school English teacher - in other words, a much needed resource to the Japanese community. Hopefully I'll be able to help her out too, with my impeccable English skills - baha!

Fall in Japan

Campus

Fall has more or less arrived in Japan. The leaves have changed colour and it is slowly getting colder. Mind you, it's half way through October and some days we can still wear t-shirts outside.

We're starting to get used to our schedules at school, having two or three classes five days a week, each class being 90 minutes long. We have four different subjects, which all, of course, is taught in Japanese.

Intermediate Japanese - Japanese grammar were we also are being tested every day, alternating between either vocabulary or kanji (Chinese characters). A couple of times a month we have a bigger test reviewing new grammar, vocabulary and kanji.

Litterature - this has so far mainly been going through different texts where we gain somewhat insight in current Japanese society.

Rengo - Japanese idiomatic phrases. Our teacher seemingly has ADD and spends a lot of time procrastinating. And beatboxing. And pantomiming.

JLPT - Preparation for Japanese Language Proficiency Test that we're going to take in December, I think.

Most of the grammar is a repitition of what we learned last year - which I think is a pity. Some times I fear this semester will be a waste - feeling that what we've doing here we might has well be doing at home in Norway. I guess we're supposed to be focusing on putting what we've already learned out there, and whatnot, but it's not that easy making Japanese friends - especially since we're more than 20 Norwegians going to the same school and living close to each other, we tend to stick together, while at the same time the Japanese people seem to be very shy.

Besides, I don't really like the environment at university that much, I think. In Japan, when you are attending university you're still a child. It seems like you get this "one shot" at getting an education and most of the students seem to be around 18-19 years old. Josai International University, as far as I know, is one of the not so many universities in Japan where you don't have to take an entrance exam - which I imagine is attracting lazy, uninspired Japanese kids. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in junior high - where kids, who haven't yet found their own identity, stribe after being a clone of each other, the guys playfighting and showing off, and girls spending the entire lunch break putting on makeup, giving newcomers the stink eye.

It might not be as bad as I make it sound like, but I'm a bit conscious about it. I want to be around ambitious adults who give me inspiration, not children whose perception of "studying English at the university" is being at the "this is a ball", "I like the colour blue" level.

Maybe I'm too harsh and have too high expectations.

Sometimes I feel a bit claustrofobic. Like I'm on this one big fieldtrip with a bunch of people I don't get along with, stuck in a small town while the rest of the world is moving on. I miss being alone and lonely in crazy Bangkok, feeling like I'm challenging myself, not unwillingly being a part of this flock of sheep. But I guess this is a challenge too.



Anyway.

Yesterday was my birthday and Cat, Benedicte and I went to this newly discovered Thai restaurant not far from the school. God knows we had a small struggle getting there, as we took the directions we'd recieved a bit too literally - as we had been told to stay on one side of the train tracks in order to find the restaurant, we winded up biking around on muddy roads in the middle of paddy fields in the pitch dark. But it was actually a bit funny and made it all more memorable.

I had a bowl of Tom Kha Gai, a spicy soup made with coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and chicken and Som Tam, a spicy papaya salad, with sticky rice.

I liked the food, as it was pretty authentic Thai. The small restaurant is run by a Thai lady who's been living in Japan for more than 17 years. It was nice to get to speak Thai again too.




Today we were finally assigned speaking partners, yay! I was so luck (karma) to get a couple of really sweet and outgoing girls, and hope to be spending a lot of time with them and getting to practice my Japanese.

Yui-san and Miku-san

National Sports Day

In Japan, unlike Norway, they seemingly don't have many, if any, religion caused national holidays - therefore they create their own, usually, conveniently, falling on a Monday.

Like "National Sports Day".

On "National Sports Day" you most certainly do not sleep until 14.50 p.m (!) when you have a big test the next day to study for. You resisting the bed's magnetizing powers that somehow only is functioning when someting really needs to be done.

*Update: I got a "double A" (what kind of grade is that - what kind of bahumbug school do I go to, anyway??) on the test, because I'm so smart - as in S M R T*

After all, I'm a いい学生, ii gakusee - "good student".

Then you most certainly not go to a friends house and consume alcohol. And you don't bring your camera to secure proof.

Hmm, Japanese lemonade, you say?

"Mineral water"

My birthday-meal?

Yours truly

Kuniyoshi, posing

Wictoria and her awesome socks

When we party, we eat ice cream. Ooh, rebellious.

Most certainly not a picture from the bike ride home

Still home by 11.

Gah, maybe I'm not so rebellious after all.

Tokyo Sugar Rush

Cat looking a bit "off"

Today we went to Tokyo.

Less talk, more pictures:

Who can bring a fake smile to the table? Kine can!
My face is not made for smiling. It makes me look stupid(er).

There's an ice cream vending machine at the train station.
Ice cream for breakfast, yay!

Cat knows how to multitask. Eating an ice cream,
composing an e-mail and checking kanjis at her PSP at the same time.
I certainly hang out with the right crowd.

To prevent "chikan"-ing (train groping) during rush hours.

Gaaah, oishisou!!

We went to Sanrino Puroland, also known as "Hello Kitty Land"

Less talk, more pictures:

I'm not sure what Kuniyoshi is doing. I think he's chikan-ing Hello Kitty

Proof I don't always take 'amazing' photos. Sometimes it's blurry as hell, my models won't cooperate,
and I'm even poking my fat finger into the lense.

They even had an awesome 3D ride with moving chairs. It was pretty cool, being able to feel the difference between "flying", "falling", "crashing", "slipping on ice", etc. during the short movie. Feelin' the increasing age, though - it didn't take long before I felt car sick.

Hey, I have the exact same pair! How cool am 'I'.

Then we went to Harajuku to this restaurant were we acted like true Chinese people, binging on the buffet. They didn't actually have that much food, but the cakes were awesome. It was pretty cheap too; 1480 Yen (around 90 NOK).

On the way home we were all high on sugar.

Yes, I've chopped off all of my hair and given myself the same cut
my momma gave me my entire childhood: the infamous "ear-to-ear cut".
(Mom, this is not Thailand - I won't get stricken by the teacher if the hair isn't reaching my ears at the longest). No wonder I got bullied.

Yes, still high

Wictoria never gives herself a break. Always clutching her god damn kanji flash cards, suddenly pulling out our textbook from school, permanently having her electronic dictionary at hand.
I wish I had her self dicipline.

Gum, anyone?