Darlo's World

(Happy Birthday lil’ sis!)

It’s cold back home in Telford, or at least it is according to various weather sources. Since my arrival in Japan I’ve been enjoying warm weather and only the occaisional spot of rain. This of course excludes the trip to Koya-san where things were a bit nippy. Unfortunately the weather has cooled down now and it looks like it is getting ready for the Winter. Last week it was only first thing in the morning that was cold, leaving us with the agonising “do I take my coat” question. If I went out with a coat it meant that by the time I reached Uni I was sweating like a pig. If I left my coat I’d freeze my nuts off so bad that they’d actually stay in bed. But now that’s changed, as I take a coat with me on a daily basis now. Those of you who are now checking the Osaka weather forecast and are about to bombard me with emails saying it’s not that cold, you gotta remember that it’s been really warm and has dropped suddenly … unlike the UK where it’s cold for most of the year.

So this weekend gone was the class trip to Kanazawa. Leaving University at 8.15 (well, we would have if it wasn’t for certain pillocks being late) meant that the dormies missed out on breakfast again as we had to leave early. I managed to pop in and grab a little bread, but not what I needed to keep hunger from striking on the LOOOOOOOONG coach ride. I felt sorry for those at the girls dorm as they had to leave even earlier. Our main annoyance about this was that if you look at a map showing the route we took, we go right by Osaka! It wouldn’t have taken much time to make a pick up, but I guess we have to play by the rules here; something I keep having to remind people … sometimes myself also.

Just like my entry about Koya-san, most of the names and locations of places have been forgotton, so bear with me.

So along the way a few of us managed to secure a spot near the back of our coach (there were two coaches), and various DS games were played including a pretty long Mario Kart tournament; I was glad to have brought my charger.

We stopped for lunch at Eiheiji at a traditional styled restaurant. I admit it. I made a dumb mistake. No one actually noticed me do this, but I write it to remind others to try and avoid following my footsteps. Upon entering the restaurant floor I took off my shoes and grabbed one of the few remaining pairs of slippers. I went into the room and sat on the cushion and admired the food that was already laid out. But something wasn’t quite right. It felt like I was sitting awkwardly. I looked around and noticed what was wrong.

The slippers! No one else was wearing slippers!

Gah! I’d put on the slippers that a member of staff had taken off when they came in the room. I managed to suavely leave the room and put the slippers back before anyone noticed, but you guys (and me) should be careful.

I’m going to have to cut this much shorter than usual, and I know I’ve not finished talking about the weekend, but the truth is I’m tired and want to go to bed.

G’nite!

Think back a few years. Do you remember those adverts for Bud Light that celebrate the regular guy, like Mr Underwear Inspector 12 and Mr Chinese Food Delivery Guy? Well last night I suddenly ended up on YouTube face to face with an advert I’d not seen in so long that brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes; Mr Foot Long Hot Dog Inventor! Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t the best adverts I’ve ever seen. However, they do make an interesting attempt to show how regular people can reach the ‘American Dream’.

Today was … interesting. As is always, I’m pretty tired. As is always, I’ve done something different to make me tired. It probably started last night as I went to bed late due to hunting all of the afformentioned Bud Light commercials. I went into Uni nice and early but couldn’t remember the Kanji for the test. No big difference there, with the exception that all I could think of was “Real men of genius” being sung on a continual loop.

During the lesson we were talking a little bit about cultural differences between Japan and America (I reference back to a previous entry about my hatred of the current textbook for this). Our discussion was about how bragging about your familly or ‘inner-circle’ is considered bad and arrogant here (apparently it’s not in the States). I brought up the topic of Cinderella Syndrome, much to the confusion of people in the room.

Cinderella Syndrome is literally when you brag about something because the opposite is true. In Cinderella the step-mother bragged about her “beautiful daughters” and cast out Cinders as the tramp, when (at least according to the Disney version) it’s it the opposite which is in fact … fact. Fast forward to the end of the lesson and my one teacher asked me about any problems I’d been having, explaining that my written work, especially sakubuns (essays) had been awesome but my speaking and listening weren’t great, which was especially emphasised by a lesson of aweful contributions from me. After explaining Sunday Dorm Syndrome and the minimum conversation practice we get in the dorms.

Fast forward an hour or so and we find ourselves at ABC (aka Asahi TV). That’s right, me and Japanese TV have made a link. There’s a show called Bebop High-Heel and on it is a segment called Hajimete No Nippon (First Time Japan … ish). It’s basically a show that shows foreigners trying new Japanese things for the first time. Not only was this a good way to learn and experience some new Japanese cultural aspects (let’s face it, I don’t do that in a dorm) but also a chance to learn a bit more about Japanese media directly … I thought as I was conversing with the other participants in the ABC annex.

I won’t go into the details about what we did, I wouldn’t want to spoil it. The show’s being broadcast on the 27th of November at 11:17pm, though I doubt I’ll be watching it. The only TV in the building is in the dining room, which gets locked off at 10pm.

Going on a class trip tomorrow to Kanazawa, but I leave you with an episode of Hajimete no Nippon from YouTube.

Oh! Before I go I just want to say that the Room Of The Living Dolls at the arcade in the Hep 5 building in Umeda (Osaka) is freaking awesome, and everyone should go!