Golden MCAT Jetlag

The end of April and the beginning of May provided some interesting times. I went back home to the US to take the MCAT. But to avoid being jet-lagged during the exam, I left Japan 5 days prior to taking it. Thankfully, I wasn't terribly jet-lagged while taking the test; rather, I was flustered from the short time limit and long passages and long questions. The most difficult thing for me on the test is the sheer amount of reading. Perhaps if I had a faster reading speed.

Speaking of reading speed, I notice that I've been able to read Japanese faster than when I was in college. Not a lot faster, but noticeable. Reading manga has helped; I should keep it up. I've been reading a karate manga called Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru, as well as Initial D, the famous car manga that made drifting popular. And since I've purchased the manga in Japan, they are only in Japanese. As seinen manga meant for older readers, there is rarely any furigana above the kanji (which gives the pronunciation), so it's good kanji reading practice.

I just started playing two new PS3 games: Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2. I hadn't played Bioshock 1 or 2 yet, so I wasn't sure what I was in for. Luckily, Infinite could be played without having played the first two, so I wasn't lost in the story. And boy, what a story. It touches on a lot of social and economic issues. No spoilers, but it's a very deep game, both practically and philosophically.

Borderlands 2 on the other hand is just a lot of sheer fun. It's a first-person shooter role-playing game. Basically, lots of guns, with the ability to use new techniques in battle. Very cool concept. The most fun aspect of the games I play is character growth and new abilities. Just like the anime/manga series that I love the most, like Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, Hajime no Ippo, etc. Growth; that's what life is all about.

We hope this little cutie grows up well

Word of the Day: 成長　「せいちょう」　"seichou," or "growth," implying "growth into adulthood. The first kanji means "to become," as in the verb 成る "naru." The second kanji means "long" as in 長い "nagai," but it can also mean "head (of) ____" as in 社長 "shachou," the head of a company.

Sakura

Spring has sprung! But then it got confused yesterday and it snowed, what the hell!? Here, check out some beautiful cherry blossoms, known as 桜　「さくら」 "sakura" in Japan.

Cherry Blossoms in Furukawa

As I write this, I'm standing at a "Free Wi-Fi Desk" at the Narita Airport. Gotta go home to take the MCAT. Again. Lol. I've taken it a few times already, but I studied this time more than last time, so I (should) have an improved score than before. But it's also been a while since I've last taken science courses, so it's possible that I've forgotten a few things that were inherently internalized way back in the day. It was fun reviewing general chemistry, as I was reminded of my high school chemistry classes.

My original plan was to apply to medical schools this summer, but to be honest, I'm not completely confident in my application. Schools get around 3000+ applications, and the class size is only about 150. That means that only 5% of the applicants actually end up matriculating to that school! But I believe the actual acceptance rate is about 20%, so that means three fourths of those invited to attend end up declining and going to another school. Anyway, in order to improve my chances, I think I should attend a full fledged pre-med post-bacc program. That is, pre-medicine, post-baccalaureate; a program that is held at a school of medicine to prepare students for matriculation into medical school. I have big dreams, but they require many small steps.

So besides studying and researching medical school, what have I done this past week or two? Oh, yeah, I bought the PS3 Initial D game. That's fun. Unfortunately, the Initial D series underwent a "cleansing" and got rid of many cars, including my beloved GT-Four. But that's okay, they still have RX-7's, WRX's, GT-R's, and Evo's. They even threw in an RX-8 as free DLC.

Also game-related, I'm finally an official PlayStation Plus subscriber! Yay free games! Really, though, I needed that service to copy my saves into the "cloud" so that I can sell my PS3 here in Japan and not worry about my files when I use a PS3 in the US. I love technology. Who knows what kinds of services and such we'll have in another 10 years?

I've noticed that I'm semi-addicted to Gran Turismo 5. And I think I've figured out why. It's not as simple as "I love cars." It's "I love cars and the game does a good job of giving me a reason to turn it on every day." And that reason is...a daily reward. Basically many games today (especially on iPhone/iPad) reward players for playing (or at least turning it own) every day. On iOS, the rewards usually cycle every 5 days, so when you play over the course of 30 days, you get each reward 6 times. In GT5's case, the reward is an incremental bonus to earned in-game currency and experience points, up to 200%. On day 6 and later, the number simply remains at 200%. But if a day is skipped, the number drops back down to a normal 100%.

I think modern RPGs should take advantage of this system. I played World of Warcraft half a decade ago and their system was to reward people when they logged at at certain locations ("Inns") by giving bonus experience points. And back then, they starting "Daily Quests" which allow a player to complete the same quest, once per day, and earn the same rewards (usually a hefty amount of gold). This killed the game for me, as I ended up grinding the same handful of quests for 3 weeks straight, playing the game only one to two hours a day and trying to figure out how to most efficiently earn the most gold in the least amount of time. And because it was the same quests, I grew bored of it quickly. My fault, yes, but it's their fault for trying to take advantage of players' greed. Hah.

Anyway, gotta pack up! I saw some pretty sakura on the way here. Here is a shot from my town! It was snowy and rainy yesterday. How peculiar.

Snow, Rain, and Sakura

Word of the Day: 咲く　「さく」　"saku" or "to bloom."

The end of the world?

So when was "2012" supposed to "happen?" Some say 12/21/2012. But maybe it'll happen when 2012 ends? Let's hope not, 'cause I still have a lot of things to take care of!

So, despite it being December, I haven't had very many (physical) gifts lately, despite both my birthday and Christmas having just passed. But it's okay, as I happen to own 90+% of the things I want to own, and I've received plenty of blessings, love, friendship, and a lot of other non-physical gifts.

One of the gifts I got though, was (were) this (these):

Can the biggest head eat the rest?

They're called 達磨　「だるま」 "Daruma" dolls. They're made of hollow wood, and these particular ones fit inside a bigger one not unlike Russian Matryoshka dolls. As you can see, the faces on the dolls have eyes which don't have pupils. It's my job as the owner to fill in one eye with a pupil to signify a goal. Once the goal is accomplished, I'm allowed to "open the other eye" by drawing a pupil in the other eye. There are four dolls (the fifth one is a small egg with 福　「ふく」 "huku," or "luck" on it), so that means I can assign four of my many goals. Surely, at least one will be medical-school-related.


I've been reviewing for the MCAT, and finally I made a structured daily study plan to motivate me. This is probably the most excited I've ever been for studying. Maybe I can assign "levels" to each section and turn it into a real life RPG. Gotta level up!

Reading the material brings back nostalgic memories of studying the same topics in college and high school. Studying with my friends, teaching my classmates the material, and the feeling of satisfaction after acing a difficult exam. Natsukashii ne.

It has been snowing quite heavily! Snow was DUMPED on Miyagi Prefecture. After two days of snow, everything is white outside. Yesterday in particular was pretty scary due to strong winds managing to cover tracks left only minutes earlier. Here's my car:

Like a prehistoric beast buried in the snow

Yeah, so, pretty snowy. It doesn't look all that bad in the picture, but there was about 5 inches of snow on the car.

Japan doesn't recognize Christmas as a federal/national holiday, so I had to go to work. It's the first time I've ever worked on Christmas, and I gotta say, it's not a good feeling. But I was probably more sad about having to work on Christmas the weekend before while anticipating it. On the day of, I spent it studying for the MCAT at work, then going home and watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, playing some video games, and reading Initial D manga. Good times!

As the year is winding to an end, an opportunity to visit the crossroads again appears. Regardless of my choice to stay in Japan for a fourth year, I am doing everything I can to prepare for my application to medical school, which will occur in the summer of 2013. That's why I've been studying so much! Speaking of which, time to hit the books.

Everyone, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Word of the day: 懐かしい　「なつかしい」　"natsukashii," or "nostalgic."

Rant

This week has been fun and busy. Busy, but fun. Last weekend was Father's Day, celebrated in dozens of countries. Happy Father's Day, to those of you whom it matters! Like my brother, for example; his first Father's Day! Why isn't there an Uncle's Day? I wanna be celebrated, too! Haha. (My niece is adorable!)

As I mentioned earlier, I am now the co-president of an organization here in Japan. The committee and I have been working hard to plan and coordinate events that are coming up very soon. There was a big hullabaloo about it earlier because someone had suggested a new location, and all of a sudden, out of laziness, everyone (including me) were saying, "alright...yeah...sure..." It seemed like the event was completely decided without even discussing it. So once we started discussing it with people outside of the group (potential attendees), everyone was turning it down. And it made me think, "hold up, we never thought it through in the first place. Why are we going for this place anyway; whatever happened to the original plan?" Anyway, just all the discussion tires me out.

Played some more SFXT yesterday; since I leveled up to C+, I have been facing harder and harder opponents. So tough, in fact, that I had a net loss in BP yesterday (dammit!) and I'm actually now below the number of points necessary to level up to C+. Sigh.

Okay, so my biggest rant has to do with boxing. I finally got around to watching Manny Pacquaio's latest match, against undefeated champion, Timothy Bradley. Watching the match, it was clear as day that Bradley had no chance against Pacquaio. Manny was stronger, faster, dodged more/better, and got way more hits in than Bradley. I was expecting Manny to knock out Bradley; he had lots of chances, but he's just too damn nice. The way the rounds went were as follows:

Round starts. The boxers get close. Bradley tries to attack; Manny either blocks or dodges. With one minute left in the round, Manny switches from defense to offense and starts pummeling Bradley, getting tons of hits in while still managing to dodge Bradley's retaliations. This is how the fight basically went. This same sort of pattern for 12 rounds. I was really expecting Manny to turn up the heat and knock Bradley out. I really wish he did.

Finally, it's decision time. First judge scores it 115-113, Pacquiao. Second judge scores it 115-113, Bradley (wtf, really?). Third judge scores it 115-113, Bradley. And he was named the new WBO Welterweight champion. Everyone was shocked. Harold Lederman, a celebrated boxing judge and analyst who always comments on the fights as they happen, was shocked. He scored it 119-110, in favor of Manny. ESPN, CNN, Associated Press, Yahoo, and many other sports and news outlets judged the fight themselves, and all have given it in favor of Manny.

What a controversy. Even Bradley didn't think he won. The look on his face when they announced his win was complete surprise. Kinda like, "Man, what a loss. Oh well, I tried my best. Wait wuuuuuuuuuuuut??? I won???" I'm sure that went through his head, verbatim. Manny was asked after the fight if he thought he won. He said, "Yes, absolutely." I completely agree.

The judging was such a controversy that the president of WBO asked five world-renowned judges from around the world to watch the match and judge it for themselves. All five judged in favor of Pacquiao.

The three judges used at the night of the fight were all from Nevada, hired by the state commission. If they were the same judges who judged Pacquiao's last much, which was against Juan Manuel Márquez, I wouldn't be surprised. I think that Pacquiao should not have been given the "win" on that fight. If the three judges are the same, then maybe they were trying to make up for their mistake in their past judgment call? If they are the same, then this confirms their blindness, as they misjudged two times in a row.

I have no doubt in my mind who really won that match. I think they're planning on scheduling a rematch this November. I will try to make weight for that fight, too (boxing welterweight is a 147 lb. weigh-in). It just pisses me off that Manny's win streak has been tainted because of poor judgment.

The exact same thing happened to a good friend and martial arts training buddy of mine. He was part of our dojo's kickboxing team, and he partook in a boxing match. He was beating the other kid down pretty bad. It was a sure win. So he let up on the last round (or two?), only to have the judges give it to the other guy.

Stupid judges.

/endrant

Articles:
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/8079349/wbo-review-timothy-bradley-manny-pacquiao-fight-unanimously-scores-pacquiao
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/story/2012-06-20/Pacquiao-wants-rematch-with-Bradley/55725906/1

Word of the day: 盲目　「もうもく」　"moumoku," or "blindness;" literally "blind eye." The first kanji, 盲, can also be pronounced めくら "mekura", which means "blind," "blindness," or "blind person," but I believe it is more commonly used in conjunction with another kanji. 盲人 (moujin) would be "blind person," where the second kanji literally means "person."

Meat

Wow, what a weekend. I don’t even remember everything that happened. What the hell did I do on Friday? I’m 80% sure I stayed home and relaxed…it was an incredibly long week, and I needed to just sit and *chill.* I spent some time playing Street Fighter X Tekken, which is easily becoming one of my favorite fighting games, for the sheer fun (and competition!) it provides.

Gonna go on a video game side tangent right now. Feel free to skip this paragraph if you have no interest in SFXT or fighting games. So, there is an online ranking system in which you (as the player) are given Battle Points (BP) after you win a battle, and you lose BP when you lose a battle. You start at D rank; next is D+, then C, then C+, and so on. I’ve only ever seen up to B+, even on videos online. I assume it goes up to A+; maybe even higher for tournament champions. Tekken has a similar system, but rather than a letter grade, it gives a title, such as “Destroyer” or “Shihan,” for example. Anyway, I’ve been playing it a lot this past week, and I manage to rack up 2000 BP (YAY!) which puts me closer to C+. I notice that when I battle people B Rank and up, they beat me. Not necessarily “easily;” I certainly give a good fight, but most of the time, they win. Watching videos online and simply facing more skilled opponents has improved my game a lot. But I find that my losses are due to either a slipup of the controls, or my lack of knowledge of opponents’ techniques and strategies. If I spent as much time learning the ins and outs of SFXT like I did with Tekken Tag and Tekken 4, back in the day, I would probably be a B Rank in no time. In case you were curious, my main team is composed of Ryu and Kazuya; not combo-heavy characters, but hard hitting. Kind of like how I fight, actually. When I first picked up Kazuya, it was pretty amazing learning his move set and abilities. He’s incredibly fun to play, and very different from Ryu. So much so, that I was in a bit of Ryu funk, and used mostly Kazuya when I played. It seemed like Ryu was underpowered all of a sudden, his lack of a “bounce” move, and having only one crappy mid attack made me want to use him even less. But luckily, I spent time in the Training room, and learned a few new tricks with both Ryu and Kazuya, learning some decent team combos and strats. Ah, love this game. Gotta play some tonight after doing karate.

So what did I do on Friday? Oh! I remember now! I went to a Sri Lanka/Italian restaurant! The guy who owns it actually had a different one last year, but had to ditch it and move to Osaka due to the big earthquake. But he missed the area, so he came back! I had Guinness, gnocchi, Brazilian sausage with beans, and Baileys. Good times.


On Saturday, I went out with an old friend I hadn't seen in a while and a former co-worker I hadn't hung out with in a while. We went to an all-you-can-eat barbeque place. DELISH.


And on Sunday, I went to my friend's house 'cause she and her family were holding a barbeque. YES! MORE MEAT! I hadn't had ribs in a while; yum. There was also mashed potatoes, bacon gravy (crazy right?), grilled clams, tira misu, a chocolate cake, yakitori, various cheeses, and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy their various wines, beers, and home-made plum wine, because I drove there. But her dad and I got into many discussions about sports cars (he owns a Nissan Fairlady Z), motorcycles, and touring around Japan. My buddy was also there, and we discussed plans for an organization I'm in (he was a former co-president, and I'm a new co-president). Yes, my life will continue to be busy.


I feel so fat.


Word of the Day: デブ　「でぶ」 "debu," which means "fat" or "chubbie." It's often used as a derogatory term to make fun of or insult someone. "You fattie!" That kinda thing.

TGS and Oktoberfest

So, I realized today after class, that it doesn't really make sense to write old posts first before updating people on what I've been up to more recently. 'Cause if I did that, then I would NEVER catch up, and I would ALWAYS just be updating! So, instead, I've decided to update the blog more regularly, with current news and recent events, while going back and finishing the other blog posts that I had started way back when. Especially the disaster stuff.

Just a week and a half ago, Tokyo Game Show was held in Chiba, Japan (not actually/technically Tokyo, but close enough). TGS is the largest video game convention in Japan. And as such, it is the place where a lot of game developers and publishers like to announce news and reveal new things about their products. The big hit for the weekend was the PlayStation Vita, Sony's new handheld, the successor of the PSP.

I was one of the lucky ones, along with my two college buddies with whom I attended TGS, to get my hands on a PSVita. It was a sleek device, showing off PS3 graphics on such a small and gorgeous machine. I was expecting the back touchpad to feel something like that found on a laptop, but it was actually smooth and glossy, not unlike the glass screen on a cell phone.

I played Michael Jackson: The Experience. Why? 'Cause we had played it earlier on the PS3 Move, and it was DAMN FUN. I was curious as to how a full-body dance game would transfer over to a touch-screen handheld experience. Taking a lesson from Osu! Tatakae Ouendan, there are a lot of finger swipes across the screen to the beat of the song, as well as other movements. Finger dancing, if you will.

The highlight of TGS for me was getting to play Street Fighter X Tekken months before its official release! Incredibly fun; and a completely different game from Street Fighter, Tekken, or any of the Versus games. Aesthetically, it looks quite similar to Street Fighter IV, but plays more like, say, Marvel VS Capcom 3 without super jumps. But with a SF4 button layout. Anyway, for a fan of both series, a matchup like this is like a dream come true.

At TGS, there were also a lot of cosplayers. Some really EXCELLENT ones! I'll try to post an album at some point. My friend and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the cosplay show in the evening, where some of the best cosplay I had EVER seen went on stage to act out a skit and/or pose. Pretty damn awesome. I wish I had a better camera.

The remainder of my Tokyo trip consisted of hanging out with my friends in the evenings, eating some good food and drinking some good beer. We actually hit up a Hooters to see how different it was to those in the States. Gotta say, as happy as we were to enjoy some wings (it had been too long!) and Philly Cheesesteak (also been too long!), we were kind of disappointed about the servers. Not that they weren't attractive ("maa maa" as some would say), but just that they were surprisingly cold and unfriendly. Well, afterwards, we went to karaoke and even busted out some free-style between lyrics (or sometimes replacing lyrics entirely, haha).

Speaking of drinking, last week, Oktoberfest was celebrated in Sendai! Having been super busy and completely forgetting about it until the last day (Sunday), I finally managed to make my way out there. There were many food booths serving things like German sausage, potatoes, and even sauerkraut! Now THAT took me back to my days in eastern Pennsylvania. And there was even a Hofbrau booth! I bought their Oktoberfest beer and even bought a glass beer mug! A mug with "HB" written on it. Feels like it was made just for me. ;-)

Word of the day: 久しぶり　「ひさしぶり」　"hisashiburi." I have used this word at least twice already, in previous posts, even titling one of my posts with it! This word basically means "It's been a while," often in the phrase "Ohisashiburi desu ne!" which means the same thing but is more polite.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Phrase of the day: 明けましておめでとうございます！「あけましておめでとうございます！」 "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!" You can guess what it means. :-) Literally, it means "Congratulations for opening!" or something along those lines.

The December Issue

Unfortunately, I didn't start any blogs in the middle of December and save it for later like I did the November ones. Except for this one, on December 31st, minutes before the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. So I'll use this space here to summarize my December activities.

December is a wonderful month; my favorite month of the year. In December are my favorite holiday, long breaks from school or work, a festive atmosphere, shopping sales at nearly every store, opportunities to spend time with friends and family, and my birthday. There are many reasons to love December. But also many reasons to dislike it: it's probably the most expensive month, it has the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice), and it's when the cold really starts kicking in. But I like to think the good outweighs the bad, so I still like it. Maybe that's the optimist in me speaking.

Anyway, the month was really fun! For my birthday, some of my coworkers and I went out to Sendai to a really nice restaurant. We ate amazingly delicious food, and they surprised me with a cake! Everyone in the restaurant clapped for me; it was so nice. ^_^ I was surprised to see American-style sushi rolls there, as well. You know, the kind that has the rice outside the seaweed wrapper rather than inside. Because the rice is outside, the roll is usually larger, so you can fit more ingredients in it. Traditional Japanese sushi rolls usually only have one ingredient. The following week, another friend took me out to Sendai (near the nice restaurant) to a cozy American-style diner/deli. The specialty? Burgers. I happily feasted on a large burger and onion rings. And a milk shake. Rock on.

While in Sendai, I saw "光のページェント", or "Pageant of Light." A street in Sendai gets all of its trees completely lit up with white Christmas lights. Looks beautiful! I'll post a picture in an update.

The first snowfall occurred! Not too different from the US. But the scenery is different. Again, pictures later.

A friend and I stuffed ourselves at a kaitenzushi place. 13 plates each! That's 27 pieces (one tray had 3 rather than 2), and a bowl of soup! Insanity.

A co-worker invited me to his house to have lunch. I happily accepted of course! He is the youngest employee at the Junior High. The funny thing is that he had actually invited me over in November, but he never set a date, so I just let it slide until he brought it up again. Sometime earlier in December, he mentioned that his sister kept asking when I was going to come over; I had forgotten that one of my students was his sister. O.o Anyway, when I finally came over, his mother had prepared a wonderful lunch, with which I stuffed myself silly. We played some Mario on their Wii, then went outside to play catch. It had been years since I had last thrown a ball, but despite my lack of practice, it was still really fun. His sister had a wicked throw. (She's on the baseball team!) His other sister couldn't catch (or throw) very well, but it was still fun. Their family gave me quite a bit of food to take home; yummy, delicious, homemade Japanese food. I am drooling just thinking about it.

So in December, because it is the end of the year, there are many "End of the Year Parties," known as 忘年会　「ぼうねんかい」 "bounenkai." Literally, it means "forget year meeting." So I guess you're supposed to party all night and drink until you forget all the bad things that happened that year? Or maybe it's a party so you don't forget? Anyway, every school and every organization and every company seems to hold one. Being involved with so many groups here, I was of course invited to a bunch, but unfortunately due to lack of funds, I could only attend...four, or so.

The first was a very small, private party, with the same people who threw me a birthday party, plus one more person. It was mad fun, and we held it at a restaurant in Sendai that Shoe and I have grown to love (and frequent recently). The next one was held by an international organization in a neighboring town, where I met new friends and ate yummy home-made food. There was so much there that I took food home to last me a couple days!

The biggest 忘年会 that I went to was held by the junior high school. We went to Naruko Onsen, which is a city in the north famous for its hot springs! Naturally, we stayed overnight to eat, drink, and bath in the hot springs. And let me tell you, that water is damn hot. For some reason, even though I was born in the tropics, my body has a tendency to be able to handle colder temperatures much better than hotter temperatures. In any case, I still took a dip, in both the inside bath and the outside bath. The outside bath was amaaaaaaaaazing. Unfortunately, it was so windy, that the steam that rose from the hot bath was quickly blown away. But for the moments that it lingered, it had a wonderful atmosphere. Minus the sulfuric smell of the natural hot spring. And the naked old men.

After the 忘年会 were all over, my vacation started! Winter break was a BLAST. My girlfriend came up from Kyoto to visit me, and seeing her always makes me happy. We did some shopping in Sendai, where she got a vest, and where I had purchased a vest just a couple weeks earlier. We also checked out Sendai's 光のページェント, this time, walking down the entire street rather than driving through it.

Christmas was a good time. My girlfriend got me a much-needed soft, beautiful scarf, and I got her many socks and stockings. And an iPod case. And Utada Hikaru's new album. And a cute leather papillon keychain. And something else, I think, but I can't recall it at the moment. Oh, right, a Christmas Cake for us to share. This brings me to a side note.

For some reason, Christmas is really improperly/incorrectly represented in Japan; it's extremely misunderstood. I thought it was bad enough in the US, but I've grown to accept its commercialization, mainly because I enjoy the atmosphere, the "Santa side," and because I'm not religious. But Japan. Oh, Japan. According to my friend Ken, Christmas in Japan is about love. But not the way it is in the US, where it's about the love shared between families and friends; no, here in Japan, it's about the love between couples, not unlike Valentine's Day. And on Christmas in Japan, the dinner usually includes a big chicken dinner from KFC (lol) and a Christmas Cake. Now conveniently, this way of celebration worked out for my girlfriend and me, where none of our family members are in Japan, so it was best to spend it with one another. But rather than grab KFC, my girlfriend wanted to cook dinner for me.

And boy did she prepare a feast! It included home-made karaage chicken, her specialty home-made macaroni and cheese, and fresh broccoli and asparagus. My contribution was a tray of appetizers, the cake, and a bottle of chardonnay. I have to emphasize "home-made" with my girlfriend's dishes, because it was a much larger endeavor than the easy Kraft Mac 'n Cheese or preparing fried chicken.

Later that evening, we watched Elf. Good times. Later than week, we watched that wretched Tekken movie. And I thought Dragonball: Evolution was bad. Well, okay, both movies are just as bad as the other. Any of the Street Fighter movies can be thrown in with that pile of worthless crap. So, to get enjoyment from the movie? My girlfriend and I turned it into a drinking game: take a drink whenever something non-canonical or nonsensical comes up. I was actually starting to run out of drink, so we had to slow it down (haha).

My friend Nana-chan came to visit before the end of the year. So the three of us had lots of fun, spending time with my friend Shoe or Ken, going to various places to shop, watching tons of movies, going out to karaoke, and even taking a dip in the local onsen for the first time! On New Year's Eve, we went to Shiogama Shrine, which sits at the top of a 220-step staircase, and with hundreds (thousands?) of Japanese people, we participated in the annual bowing and prayers during this time. I was happy to do so. I also bought a couple charms; one for health, and one that was in the shape of a giant arrow. I didn't know charms could be so bad-ass.

December 31: I am at Shiogama Shrine to check out how the New Year celebration is done in Japan!

Phrase of the day: 良いお年を！ 「よいおとしを！」 "Yoi otoshi wo!" It's a phrase said at the end of the year, which literally means, "(Have) a good year!"

Ninja Post

I have lots of news! Well, not lots, actually. Just a little. And as per usual, I shall write things in reverse chronological order. And in a numbered outline format. 'Cause it's annoying. :-)

1) I got my reappointment contract today. It's due on February 4th, but my supervisor (Supes) asked that I decide by January 20th. Way to make a difficult decision even more difficult. >_<

2) I am in the Osaki City newspaper! Osaki is the large city north of me; it's not actually a "city" per se; more like a district or county. 'Cause there are many towns and an actual city in Osaki. But yeah, a photographer came one day after I was teaching the Kindergarten class, and the other teachers told me to join in the picture! So I did! I'll try to take a picture of it and post it up, if I can.

3) It is cold. Like, really cold. It was 3°C this morning. BRRRRR!!! It sucks. I miss insulation badly. My heaters heat really well, and I thought I got used to the smell, but I was wrong. Well, I should put it this way; when the heaters are running, it smells fine. But when the heaters are either starting or stopping, they ventilate themselves, so the fumes get all spread out. It's especially annoying when I turn off my bedroom heater before I go to sleep.

4) There are a bunch of games that have been released (or are coming out soon) that I really want to buy. But they're hard to get, 'cause I have to import them from the US. But that means I have to buy a PS3. And that also means I have to connect it to my SDTV. Which finally means I have to find the time to play it.

5) I have a hard enough time finding the motivation to study, let alone properly manage my schedule. Well, I've been keeping up with all of my normal responsibilities; just not studying Japanese. Maybe it's because of how the text book is set up? You know: really annoyingly.

6) So, my car broke down the other day. Well, not exactly. But over the past two or three weeks, it had been giving me a slight bit of trouble. It wouldn't start right away; I would turn the key, and the engine would chug a couple times before it started. It was a sign that I needed a new battery. So I asked my friends about it that weekend; how to go about getting a new battery, and possibly an oil change. I had a feeling the oil needed to be changed. Well, one day, I was driving towards a convenience store about 3 kilometers south. When I got to about 2.5, I noticed the car started acting funny; something felt weird. Well, when I pulled into the parking lot, the car was slowly choking, and finally it just DIED, two feet before I was completely in the spot. So, I put it in park, pulled the handbrake, and stepped outside. I had a feeling something was wrong with the oil. I don't know how I knew this, but I knew I had to check it. So I went inside, bought a towel to use as a rag, some work gloves, and some food (which was my original intent). I went back outside to my car, popped the hood, and began the procedures. When I checked the dipstick for the oil level, my heart dropped. There was barely enough oil to touch the dip stick, let alone the minimum level that should be in the car. So, I had to fill it up. Thankfully, my predecessor left a container of engine oil in the trunk, in case something like this should happen (Thank you!); I guess it was foreseen? Or it happened before? Anyway, I was trying to open the container. For about five minutes. No matter how I turned the cap, it wouldn't open. Finally, I mustered up the courage to ask a passersby. The guy was like, "Here, do this," and he touched the cap. With a *pop!* it magically opened. Feeling like an idiot, I thanked him and took it back. I emptied the container, and filled the oil up so that it was right in the middle of the appropriate level according to the dipstick. It really must have been foreseen. So, after letting the car run for a few minutes, the engine sounded normal again, and I drove safely home.

7) One day, I couldn't even start my car. "Dammit! Effin' battery!" I shouted. I stepped out of the car, bowed to a neighbor as he was throwing out the trash, and said, "My car won't..." I couldn't think of how to say it, so I went Filipino-style, "My car won't open." He asked, "Is it locked? Did you use your key?" And I was showing him that it wouldn't start. I demonstrated. We agreed that it was the battery. So, he waved to a guy in a truck that was driving by. They looked like old friends; the first guy told the truck guy what the problem was, so the truck guy drove off to find the jumper cables. Eventually, he came back, and my neighbor helped me get my car started. Having arrived at work a couple minutes late (I called as soon as I couldn't start my car), I explained the situation, and one of my JTE's called his mechanic to come in and change out the battery. That day. In the school parking lot. What nice guys! And what great service!

8) Kyoto soon. :-)

Word of the day: 面倒くさい　「めんどうくさい」　"mendou-kusai," which means "troublesome" or "annoying." I added the hyphen because it is actually a root word, mendou, which itself means "an annoyance" or "a troublesome (thing)," and "kusai," which means "reeks of". "Kusai" can be used to say, "smelly" or "stinky." Like, "Gross, man, that stinks! くさい！"

Remember, Remember

So, it's November. I won't be the guy who posts the Guy Fawkes Night rhyme here because he thinks it's cool just 'cause he saw it in V for Vendetta. No. Not me. Instead, I'll link it here. And for the sake of battling ignorance, I want to point out that it is a national holiday in Great Britain because Guy Fawkes (and his crew) FAILED. Just keep that in mind next time you're cosplaying as V. :-)

So, speaking of cosplaying, I wish I had some sort of costume for Halloween. I mean, I dressed up as this on Halloween night, but I couldn't go trick-or-treating with it, haha.


The night before, I was invited to a dinner/drinking party (nomihodai) with a friend I met through JET and her friends who live in Sendai. It was nice meeting and greeting a new crew, but I felt completely underdressed. She failed to tell me that it was a costume party until I was on the bus! Oh well. I had my new hat on me, so I just said I was Michael Jackson. If I had a vest, I could have gone as Daichi Miura! Oh well...


Speaking of which, I'm trying to learn this song and the corresponding dance for the next time I do karaoke. It's called "The Answer."



And speaking of dancing, a new gaming peripheral for the Xbox 360 was released called the Kinect. It's a pretty remarkable piece of hardware. It's basically a camera with three separate lenses (or rather, three separate cameras), with the technology to track your every movement and apply them to the game. So essentially, the Kinect takes the best parts of the Nintendo Wii controller and the Sony Playstation Eye and puts them together. No need to hold anything (like the Wiimote) because it uses a camera (like the Eye), but the player's movements and actions control the game like a normal hand-held controller. For example, if you're playing a tennis game, just swing your arm as if you were holding a tennis racket, and the game will register the swing. Badabing, no more need for a controller! Now clearly, this sort of setup only allows for very specific types of games, but the possibilities are nigh endless. Just no fighting games...or RPGs... But yeah, check out this sweet dance video, courtesy of Justin from The Rumble Pack!



So these past two weeks have been pretty standard fare. The usual schedule; nothing really crazy. A lady from the Community Center came to me today to discuss a little of the eikaiwa; but it hasn't been decided yet when it's actually going to start. She just mentioned some things like holiday activities.

Oh, another thing I wanted to mention was that today was the last day of Judo for my students. I was sad to hear that because I wanted to join my 3rd Year Homeroom 1 class for one of their classes. I had actually helped a couple times before by showing them how to roll properly. Well, the 3-1 class had their final Judo practice last Friday. So I was invited to the final Judo class for the whole school. It was today, with the 3rd Year Homeroom 2 class. Ohhh boy was that fun!

I had matches with three students, two of whom are taller than me, and the other is my height. One of the kids is actually the tallest person in the school; probably the entire town! So, I used his height to my advantage and did my favorite throw: morote seoinage, which is an over-the-shoulder throw. That technique won me the match. Against the first kid, I used an ogoshi, in which I throw the opponent over my hip by grabbing his neck with my arm and pulling him over. Against the third kid, the one who was my height (maybe shorter), I did a similar throw, but instead of having my arm around his neck, it was around his back (under his arm, rather than over it). Again, it won me the match. What was amusing was watching them struggle trying to throw me for the first 60 seconds. I let them waste energy. :-) The only problem with all of this is that afterward, my lower back was sore from all of the twisting and using muscles that haven't been used in so long!

Lastly, I'll mention that my next post will be about the Aki Matsuri this past Sunday and the subsequent scenery-viewing. I'll post some nice pictures. ^_^

Anyway, time to hit the sack.

Word of the day: 踊る　「おどる」　"odoru," which means "to dance." Well, it means "I/he/she/you/it/they dance(s)". 踊り　「おどり」　"odori" is "a dance."

Kyoto and Video Games [Update]

I've discovered something on Japanese keyboards! There is a way to make it behave like an American keyboard! What I mean is that the keys change to the American counterparts, so even if a certain character/symbol is written on the Japanese key, it will type the American key. For example, the Japanese keyboard has a colon (:) where the apostrophe key is on the American keyboard. So normally, when I press this key with my right pinky finger, I type a colon. But when I do this trick, I get an apostrophe! The trick is pressing the following keystroke: Alt + Shift. This keystroke is normally used on American keyboards to change language inputs; it's what I use to switch between Japanese and English on my laptop and desktop computers in the US. Normally, there is a designated key to do that on Japanese keyboards, so pressing the key maintains the Japanese layout of characters and punctuation. But not with this keystroke trick! Bwahaha! I don't have to type Shift + 7 for apostrophes anymore!

/endcelebration

So! This past week has been SUPER DUPER busy, which is why I haven't been able to post an update. It's unfortunate, because I wish I could recall all of the things that have happened since my last post (which itself was quickly written). I am currently typing this at the Yakuba, so I will update this post later with pictures.

First off, I'll mention this quick gaming news that blew my mind. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was announced!!! Click that link for the article and an epic trailer! This announcement helps fighting game fans like myself to envision the next two or so years of fighting games from Namco and Capcom. There's Marvel Versus Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Tekken X Street Fighter. MVC2 and TTT are two of my favorite fighting games of all time, so hearing that both of their sequels are being planned/developed makes me very happy. ^_^ Also, the TTT2 announcement was made at Tokyo Game Show (TGS), which was this past weekend. I would have LOVED to go, and it's so cheap, too (Just ￥1200 per day or ￥1000 in advance; that's about $14.14 and $11.78, respectively, at the current exchange rate)! But I wasn't able to go because of something else more important:


I was in Kyoto this past weekend with my girlfriend! :-D I wasn't able to see her for two months prior; it was so wonderful to spend time with her again. I took an overnight bus from Sendai to Kyoto; it was an 11.5 hour ride. Not very comfortable; or rather, the seats were comfy compared to American buses; it was roomy, and the seats reclined pretty far back. And there was decent leg room. But there was no bathroom on the bus! The nice thing about that is that there is no foul smell that sometimes plagues the rear of American buses. But the problem is that the driver has to pull over every 3 hours to give people a 15 minute potty/smoking/stretching break. This wouldn't be such a big deal if he didn't turn on the lights whenever he stopped. So yeah, suffice it to say, but I didn't have restful sleep that night, even though I attempted to sleep for the entire duration of the ride. Another plus is that I was able to be in Kyoto by 7 in the morning, and the price was way cheaper than the Shinkansen (approx $82 vs $236).

Kyoto is amazing. I can easily see why it would be the "most favorite city in the world" for many of my friends. I'll definitely be taking more trips there; and it may become the same thing for me. The areas I went to were mostly suburban in feeling, even though it was in the city. There were lots of famous temples there: I went to see Ryouanji Temple with the famous rock garden, and Kinkajuji Temple, the famous golden temple. Very beautiful places.


We had lots of adventures in Kyoto. On the first day, we went to Ryouanji. It's kinda funny; when my girlfriend and I got there, we ran into some other students living in the same dorm, and when we walked into the temple grounds, we were greeted by a group of Japanese college students who wanted to give foreigners tours of the temple. We obliged and had enjoyable conversations in English and Japanese. It was funny because the Japanese people were speaking English, and we Americans would respond in Japanese. After the tour, we left the grounds, and found a dessert shop where they served green tea/vanilla twist soft ice cream! It was sooooooooooo good. After that, we found a conveyor belt sushi restaurant (kaitenzushi). I'm guessing that the ice cream filled us up a bit, because we only managed to eat 11 (or so?) little plates of sushi, one soup, and two drinks. All for just ￥1700 (like $20)! After that, we checked out her campus. It's a really nice campus; very localized. No need to travel far between classes like on Pitt's campus. But the catch is that housing is a little far (only a little).


In the evening of the first night, we met up with an old friend of mine with whom I studied Japanese back at Pitt. It was nice to see him again and meet his girlfriend, who had surprisingly good English (she studied abroad in the US for a year). I was happy that I had the opportunity to check out downtown. Now, if you know me, you would know that I love going to cities and exploring stores, arcades, malls, and busy areas like that. When we got off the bus to downtown, the closest place was a 6-floor Namco arcade! Unfortunately, we didn't have any time to check it out, but I'll definitely hit it up next time. Instead, we walked around the izakaya area, with lots of bars and restaurants, looking for a place to dine. We ended up finding a place, that strangely enough, played Black Eyed Peas the whole time we were there. Maybe they thought we were BEP. We kinda looked it. Anyway, the place had tiny booths with cave-like aesthetics. But the food and drink was good, and the company was better, so I was happy. Later, we went to an area under a bridge and next to a river. The place was bustling with people: foreigners and Japanese people; lots and lots of couples. That's apparently where my friend and his girlfriend had met. It's cute 'cause along the riverbank, couples are sitting side-by-side, evenly spaced.


The next day, we grabbed some ramen for lunch. MMMMMMMMM SOOOOOOOOO GOOD! I can still remember how good it was. The place was called Ramen Kyoto Tengu. And for just ￥700, you can get a delicious bowl of ramen that looks like this:




Kinkakuji was gorgeous. Just look at the pictures! Unfortunately, it started to rain when we arrived, so I couldn't get any shots of the temple's reflection in the water, but it was beautiful nonetheless. After seeing the temple, my girlfriend and I enjoyed a tea ceremony with a sweet snack. I'm not sure what to call the building we had the ceremony at, but it was one room with tatami mats and something like a shrine at one end and a kitchen in the corner at the other end. Afterward, we did some bell ringing, candle-lighting, and other luck/fortune-cultivating activities. I bought various keychains and omiyage at the gift shop nearby. When we left, we were looking for green tea ice cream (actually matcha ice cream), but the temple's gift shops had already closed the ice cream section. :-( So we left and found some at a nearby touristy shop. :-)


It was a three-day-weekend, so I was able to stay for two nights. I left on Monday, so I had to take the Shinkansen back. The ride was interesting; in fact, the entire commute was interesting. We walked from the dorm to the nearest train station, which took us directly to Kyoto Station. There, I bought tickets from Kyoto to Sendai, which requires a transfer at Tokyo Station. But before I left, my girlfriend and I grabbed a quick lunch at a local cold-udon/cold-soba place. Not as good as the ramen the other day, but still pretty decent. What was neat was that we paid for it using a vending-machine-like thing. After lunch, we had a tearful goodbye. I reminded her (and had to remind myself) that I'll see her again in a few weeks. We also broke the unspoken rule of "no public affection in Japan." Well, if PDA is illegal here, then call me a criminal.


I then headed to the platform where I looked for the unreserved seats, in cars 1-3. Sweet, I found it; but dammit, it's full! So full that a whole bunch of people were standing for the entire duration of the trip to Tokyo. Including me. The ride itself was a little over two hours (two and a half maybe? Something like that). Actually, correction; I got to sit down for the last fifteen minutes or so, when some people left at the stop before Tokyo Station. I sat next to a lady who was kind enough to show me where I would go to make my transfer to the Tohoku-bound trains. The second leg of my trip was much nicer; I managed to get my own seat, and when the guy left at the first stop, I had an entire bench to myself! Good deal. A friend of mine was picking me up, and he asked me to continue past Sendai into the next town, which required another transfer. It wasn't a problem and only cost about $8.

One thing I noticed while I was in Kyoto and on the Shinkansen: girls in Japan sure love moccasins. I don't know what the deal is with that. But Japanese girls can seem to make even the ugliest outfits look cute.

Oh, and lastly, I finally bought a Nintendo DSi! My best friend has been telling me to get a DS for the past five years. Better late than never! Hahaha

Word of the day: 自由席　「じゆうせき」 "jiyuuseki," which means "unreserved seat."

First day of orientation

So I've completed my first day of JET Orientation. Fun time! Except I was exhausted ALL DAY. It wasn't until I took a 10 minute nap at around 9 PM that I got a second wind and decided to go out. I went out because a fellow JET ALT said to a friend I just met, "When's the next time you're going to be in Tokyo?" With those words in mind, I dressed up and headed out. I tried to see if he was still in his room, but he had already left (probably while I was sleeping). I simply set out to look around the neighborhood a bit, and I saw plenty of bright neon lights everywhere and tons of things to buy. One of the electronics stores I went to had an eyesore of signs plastered all over the walls. It was like the store was yelling at me to purchase something. Things that piqued my interest in that store were phones and denshi jisho (you know, electronic dictionaries). Didn't buy anything of course. In fact, I didn't spend any money...

...until I got to the arcade. :-D I saw a Sega arcade which I almost thought was a pachinko parlor (because earlier I saw a pachinko parlor which I thought was an arcade). When I walked in and looked around, I was surprised at how small it was; but I believe there were multiple floors. I'm not sure exactly because I chose to stay on the ground floor; maybe I'll check out the rest tomorrow. In any case, I played Initial D Stage 5. If anyone else has played this series, they'll know that in each iteration, there is a new physics engine, and this one definitely had a new one. I couldn't get the turns or drifting right at all. Oh well, I still won.

Then, I walked around more, saw some more fun stores, and another arcade. And this one was where I spent quite a while in; maybe almost an hour. I lost track of time because I was too busy schooling other gaikokujin (foreigners) in Street Fighter IV. Got 5 wins and no losses! Then proceeded to beat the game. All on one credit. Win. :-D Tekken 6 was there, too. And I would have played it if someone else was; and if I had more time.

The orientation itself was very interesting and valuable. Apparently *everyone* in the JET Programme (and by extension, anyone who moves to Japan to stay for an extended period of time) will experience Culture Shock. I can agree with this statement, because Culture Shock (a.k.a. Cultural Fatigue) is something that happens on a personal level, and it's something that is very difficult to describe but easy to understand if one has experienced it. The speaker explained that Culture Shock (which I'll abbreviate as CS from now on in this post) is something that occurs in four stages very gradually. Which is why it makes more sense to call it Fatigue than Shock. It's something that builds up and wears you down. The four stages are basically 1) Excitation/Happiness/Euphoria 2) Sadness/Anger/Depression 3) Recovery 4) Assimilation. I won't go into detail about what each one means, but it's basically a roller coaster, where #'s 1 and 3 are high, 2 is low, and 4 is back to normal again. Some people get stuck in Stage 2, and that is the problem with CS; the person suffering from it has to go through Stage 3, or else will suffer during the entire duration of his or her stay in Japan.

The other seminars I heard dealt with teaching at multiple schools, cooking/eating out, and adult conversation classes, which I will apparently be doing. I also continued networking, mingling, and meeting more people! Overall a very exhausting, but equally fun day.

Word of the day: 時差ぼけ　「じさぼけ」　"jisaboke," or "jet-lag." The first character, as I've mentioned before, means "time," while the second character means "difference."

SFXT/TXSF

Comic-Con is going on right now, and two amazingly awesome announcements have been made! 1) Capcom is currently collaborating with Namco to develop a game called Street Fighter X Tekken [note: the X is pronounced "cross"] which uses the Street Fighter IV engine!!! and 2) Namco is making Tekken X Street Fighter which will run on the Tekken 6 (or 7) game engine!!! AHHHH!!! I've been waiting over a decade for something like this to happen! I've been a huge fan of the Street Fighter series since I was 5 years old. Yes, five. I still recall trying to teach my classmates in Kindergarten how to throw a Hadoken (fireball) with Ryu. They didn't seem to understand. :-) And I've been playing Tekken since 1998, when Tekken 3 was released on the PSX [for you young'uns, that's the original abbreviation for the PS1]. Ahh, good times, good times.

Trailer:



It's interesting because Capcom is currently working on Marvel VS Capcom 3, which I've been waiting for literally a decade, since MVC2 was released in the arcades. This only means that we won't see SFXT until probably at least a year after MVC3's release, which is scheduled for Spring 2011. Namco is currently working on Tekken 7, but I'm expecting TXSF to be released before that, to be honest. Though, they should be working on Tekken Tag 2, if anything. Tekken Tag Tournament is the favorite of many hard-core Tekken gamers, simply because the tag feature was just that fun!

And apparently the guy who played Human Torch in the Fantastic 4 movie, Chris Evans, has been cast to play as Captain America in the upcoming Captain America and The Avengers movies. For me, that's a big no-no. Both characters he portrays are Marvel characters! That means they can't ever have a movie with both characters in it 'cause it would just be too unbelievable! Unless they recast Human Torch of course. I have the same feelings about Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool and Green Lantern. Sure, the two characters belong in different universes/companies (Lantern is DC, while Deadpool is Marvel), but it's just...weird. It'd be like if Christian Bale also played Superman. Or Wolverine. It just wouldn't work out.

Anyway, not too much on my end. Finishing up packing, bought the last of my stuff (except postcards, which I might buy at Pitt if I visit one last time), and trying to take care of a few familial errands here and there. Like renewing my AAA membership! Sure, it's the American Automobile Association, but they apparently also have international services! Hopefully I won't be needing them, but just in case! And this weekend was nice because I got to spend time with my best friends from high school. We're all moving on in life, but I'm glad that we've managed to meet up and share stories before the next step. I mentioned at dinner that in 10 years, we'll be just like the guys in the movie "Grown Ups".

Anyway, gotta go! So much to do, so little time!

Word of the day: 大人　「おとな」　"otona," which means "adult." It literally says "big person." It can also be pronounced 「だいにん」 "dainin" for the same meaning. Note, however, that if you pronounce it 「だいじん」 "daijin," it means "man of substance or virtue; gentleman" or "giant."

It's been one week since you looked at me

It's been a week already!??!?!?!?! Where'd the time go???? And there's a week left!??! Holy crap!!!

Okay, so I got all my shopping done. Well, 99% of it anyway. I might pick up some post cards and perhaps load up on deodorant. Oh, and contact lense solution. Speaking of which, I just bought a year's worth of contact lenses to bring over, but I'm worried about my prescription having changed slightly from when I requested my Yakken Shoumei and now. Hopefully, they won't care...I also had to update my glasses. Luckily, I was able to keep my sexy frames, but unfortunately, they centered the clearest part of the lenses in the middle of the lense! For most glasses, this wouldn't be a problem, but the way that these glasses sit on my nose, I'm usually looking through the upper half of the lenses rather than directly in the center. Now I'll have to push up the glasses closer to my face and hope that they don't drop down my nose. No glasses-falling-down-my-nose sophisticate look for me!

So what's left? You guessed it. Actually packing. That doesn't mean I haven't started. Oh, I've started. It's just a matter of getting the things you want into the bags they need to be in. I will be able to take a total of four bags: two pieces of luggage, one carry-on luggage, and a laptop messenger bag. That said, I'll be stuffing everything I can into my lap top bag that fits! Probably all my electronics stuff (read: PSP). I will reserve my largest suitcase for clothes that I won't need for the first few days, as I will be in Tokyo for orientation and am planning on using my carry-on suitcase for the duration of my stay there (three days or so). I should be able to fit a suit or two and daily necessities into it. But "clothes for five days" as they recommended? Maybe I'll throw a few shirts into my laptop bag, haha!

As for as for slightly smaller of the two check-in suitcases, I will stuff my toiletries and other daily necessities into it, and any remaining clothes. Not really sure about all the things I need to bring, to be honest. I mean, really, I should be able to buy anything I need while I'm there. So, just bring clothes, shoes, bathroom stuff to last a couple months, gift items, money, JET stuff, Yakkan Shoumei, International Driving Permit, emergency medical stuff, laptop, cell phone, and personal stuff like a book or two, contacts/glasses, writing utensils, sketchbook, artwork by my girlfriend...what am I forgetting?

Since time is winding down, I've been trying to plan how to see my best friend and my girlfriend one last time before I head off to the Land of the Rising Sun. This weekend will hopefully be spent seeing both (separately of course, in different cities), filled with games (Metal Gear!) and movies (Inception!).

Speaking of games, it was leaked that Thor (Marvel) and Amaterasu (Capcom) will be in MVC3. That's pretty awesomesauce. A friend of mine was saying, though, that to have them in the game is a bit of a stretch, seeing as how they are both gods, and everyone else is a mere mortal. "It's easier to suspend disbelief," he said, for fights between, say, Deadpool and Ryu, but Deadpool would never go against someone as powerful as Thor. But hey, who said you can't make fights even, right? It's unusual for someone like The Hulk to lose against some flat-top in the military (Guile) with no particular abilities except to shoot slow-moving Sonic Booms from his hands [does that even make any sense?], but it can happen in these games! I can't wait.

Word of the day: 一週間　「いっしゅうかん」　"isshuukan," or "one week." Literally, the characters are "one," "week," and "interval". The "interval" character can also be pronounced 「あいだ」 "aida", and it implies a duration of time. But it can be used as a suffix (pronounced 「かん」　"kan") to a time word to change the meaning to specify an amount of time rather than the time itself. For example, １時 means "1 o'clock", but １時間 means "1 hour."

Two weeks too late

Hah! When I said "tomorrow," what I really meant was "in two weeks." Musta been a typo. :-P But remember what I said about not being good at updating blogs? Yeah. Exactly.

SO! Today is July 15. Today marks the official "holy crap it's halfway through the month of July which means I'll be in Japan in about two weeks" day. Today is also the release of the Motorola Droid X; fitting, since I've spent a lot of time yesterday and today trying to decipher the various cell phone plans in Japan. None of the three companies seem to agree on how phone plans are laid out. That, or I just don't understand them (quite likely). In the beginning, I was leaning towards Docomo. For two reasons: 1) my girlfriend and I each got a $50 off coupon for them from Kinokuniya Bookstore in NYC, and 2) they have this phone called the docomo PRIME series F-06B. And hoooooooollllllyyyyyyy crap this phone is sexy. LOOK! THE SCREEN TURNS SIDEWAYS AFTER IT SLIDES OPEN! But Docomo's plans are all really expensive, and they don't seem to have an affordable "free/unlimited texting" plan. To make things more difficult, texting in Japan is apparently called e-mail. At least, SMS messaging with SoftBank is called e-mail. Or S! Mail. Or something. Anyway, I'll try to work it all out tomorrow. While I finish unpacking. Ugh.

I've been so busy over the past two weeks. I've had to pack up my stuff from my old apartment and move back into my parent's place temporarily until Japan. But this means packing, unpacking, and packing again! Ugh, and packing is my #1 least favorite activity. At least for activities that seemingly have to be done at least once a year.

One of the very important things I've had to take care of was purchasing Japanese money. Yes, I said purchasing. BECAUSE IT'S NOT FREE. I was under the impression that my bank would never charge me a fee, and therefore, converting money into foreign currency doesn't cost any more than the current exchange rate. And right, they don't charge a fee. Instead, they mess with the exchange rate that's used. Those punks! I checked the exchange rate on www.xe.com 20 minutes before I got to the bank. According to XE, I should have been given 88 JPY for every 1 USD. But with the exchange rate the bank gave me, I only got 81 JPY for 1 USD! That's 8% less!!! What a ripoff! Ugh, but 仕方がない as they say in Japan. Apparently, getting ripped off by your local bank is still cheaper than getting ripped off at the airport. That said, I'll try to make a note of what the exchange rate is at both the departing and arrival airport.

These past two weeks have been really hectic. I have been busy packing and moving, yes. But most of all, I've been trying to meet up with old friends to say our last goodbyes. Well not really; I'm sure I'll see them again. :-) Still, I'm finally spending more than three months away from Pittsburgh in over seven years. It's heartwrenching. And I'm glad I was able to see some of my friends before I left. I should try and make a trip out to my dojo and see my martial arts master.

While I've been at home, I've spent some time with my family. We've also done a lot of pre-flight shopping. You know, like new pieces of luggage, travel goodies, and whatnot. I even got bright neon-green tags so that I can easily differentiate my luggage from the thousands of others traveling with me to Japan! Fantastic idea. I hope. And I must say, there have been some really annoying restrictions for carryon luggage. I have been limited to a size that most luggage brands (like Samsonite) don't make! What a hassle. But anyway, I should be grateful that I found any bag about that size at all.

Now on to games. There have been some new Marvel VS Capcom 3 exhibition match videos from this year's EVO. Here they are, 'cause they're awesomely, fantastically amazing:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_O6xkbLr0A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcag-p4Nuqs
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwtJeA2zrdQ
I also finally beat MGS: Peace Walker! Wonderful game! Absolutely great! Highly recommended for any PSP owner, and a good reason to get one. What's amusing is that new missions are unlocked after beating the game, and certain things (items, weapons, and epilogue) are unavailable until you "beat" the game. Though really, maybe I never beat the game at all, and there's another, better ending? We'll find out. And I look forward to playing the missions in co-op mode with my brother and best friend.

I was thinking about making a vlog (video log), and maybe doing it not unlike sxephil. (Watch him, he's hilarious!) What do you guys think? All two of you? Just kidding, I know I have more readers than that. All five of you. :-)

Phrase of the day: 仕方がない 「しかたがない」 "shikata ga nai." It means, basically, "it can't be helped."

Ohisashiburi!

It's been a while! Well, a week or so since I last wrote anything, and even longer than that since I've written anything really meaty. This week, I've been spending my time seeing a lot of old friends and spending time with my girlfriend. I've also been studying/practicing Japanese, and putting quite a bit of time into Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. My best friend was right: "Let me warn you. Once you start, you can't put it down." IT'S SO TRUE! What a fantastic game. And I can even envision a potential sequal to this game, which would tie it into the rest of the MGS games that star Solid Snake; it would basically be a remake of Metal Gear (the very first game, on the MSX2 and NES).

Last weekend I saw Toy Story 3 with my girlfriend. AMAZING! Well, perhaps not "amazing," but definitely a good movie! It certainly belongs in the "good sequels" category. Speaking of movies, though..."The Last Airbender" comes out next week. Everything about the movie seems really cool...EXCEPT THE CASTING CALL! But anyway, I won't rant about that today. I just request that you don't support the movie.

I realized recently that I never made a post about *why* I'm going to Japan. So I'll say that now, while it's still June. Going to Japan was something I've always wanted to do, since I was a teenager. I never knew that study-abroad was possible as a high school student. Then, again, my high school wasn't really fortunate enough to have big exchange programs (we've had a few exchange students here and there, though), so I never really knew about the opportunities. Anyway, I went to college, and I studied Japanese. Quite a few; rather...a bunch of friends of mine studied abroad there during our junior year. I really wanted to. I did. But I knew it would set me back academically, so I was thinking that maybe I would just limit it to one semester. But in the end, I never went through with it because I didn't want to push med school back. Well...I pushed med school back anyway because I wasn't (and still am not) 100% sure that that's what's right for me. So anyway! I worked at a hospital for a couple years and was trying to figure out what I should do next. After having met my girlfriend, and talking to other friends about it, I decided that I should try to go to Japan again! I had heard about various ways to get there, but teaching English seemed like the best thing. Plus, it would give me teaching experience and allow me to decide if being a professor and teaching classes is something I wanted to do. Long story short, I applied to the JET Programme, and here I am! Keep in mind that I also looked into other private companies, such as Altia Central or AEONet, but luckily, I got accepted as a JET ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) and didn't have to continue with other application processes.

I got a package in the mail today; it's a copy of a documentary I helped my friend make! It's a documentary about me as a martial artist. It was her class project, and she ended up submitting it to a local film festival! I hear the audience responded positively. :-) I'll do what I can to convert it into a video file and post it on Youtube or something.

I've also been trying to decide which phone service to get while I'm over there. Docomo, AU, or SoftBank? SoftBank is apparently pretty popular with the foreigners because they are the only ones with the iPhone. While I like the iPhone's capabilities, I would rather have a Japanese phone 'cause I'm in Japan. I can always get an iPhone when I come back to the states.

Lastly, should I be called ハロルド先生 or バギノン先生? (first name, or last name?) The last name garners more respect, but the first name garners "coolness points".

Word of the day: 先生　「せんせい」　"sensei." It is the suffix for "teacher". The word for a teacher is a different word: 教師 「きょうし」　"kyoushi", though one can still refer to one's teacher as his or her "sensei."

Exponential

I've noticed that my posts have been growing exponentially. Well here is a post to disrupt that trend. :-)

Also, E3 has arrived! It started today (well, technically yesterday, but I'm writing as if it were still Tuesday). I didn't get to watch it because I was traveling back to Pittsburgh. And there is way too much awesome news, so I recommend you check out the official E3 website for more info.

Or check this out, which is perhaps the most exciting news/trailer for me. :-D

[Update 6/16/2010]: These MVC3 videos are also amazing:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-marvel-vs/101755

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-marvel-vs/101757

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-marvel-vs/101759

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-marvel-vs/101739

Word of the day: 雷電　「らいでん」　"raiden". That's pronounced "rye-den" for you English speakers, not "ray-din". Well, technically, it's "rah-ee-deh-n," if you were enunciating each mora, but that's not how you pronounce Japanese words in real-time conversational speed. Anyway, it means "thunder and lightning." Literally. That 電　「でん」　"den" is the same den found in words like "electronics," "electric train," and "electricity."

Kung Fu Kid and Portable Games

I just got back from seeing "The Karate Kid" with my brother and his wife. Fun times. Good movie!

A year or two ago, when I first heard that there was a remake in the works for "The Karate Kid" starring Will Smith's kid and Jackie Chan, I flipped out. Well, not really, but I was disgusted with the concept that Jackie Chan should replace Pat Morita as the new Mr. Miyagi. And I was also upset that Jackie Chan would have anything to do with "karate," as he has always performed and represented Chinese martial arts (kung fu) and not Japanese martial arts (karate). So this concept just blew my mind and got me upset.

As time passed on and the movie was in production, I kind of forgot about it. Whenever it was brought up, I usually just dismissed it as something ridiculous. Then I saw a trailer, and I had mixed feelings (mostly confusion). In the trailer, you can clearly see kung fu as the martial art featured in the movie. Jackie also clearly says "I will teach you 'real kung fu.'" Not a lick of karate. Anywhere (at least in the trailer). So, my opinion changed to, "The movie could be good, but IT'S NOT KARATE! THEY SHOULD CHANGE THE TITLE."

So I went in there today with that mentality. That the movie could be good (and probably would be), and to try my damnednest to forget the title. Luckily, I didn't have to. By the end of the film, I feel that the movie has made up for the fact that it was called "The Karate Kid" in the US. (In Japan and China, it's called "The Kung Fu Kid" [note: I still think they should have called it "The Kung Fu Kid" here in the states]. In South Korea, it's called "Best Kid.") This 2010 remake of the 1984 movie of the same title pays lots of homage to the original in many ways, from the story telling to the teacher's antics. But the main reason why I think the movie makes up for its incorrect title is a key line in the movie: Dre's mom says something about him wanting to practice "karate," and he snaps back, "it's not karate!". Her next response indicates the common misconception people have about kung fu, karate, and the naming of martial arts. "Kung fu, karate..." something or other.

The filmmakers undoubtedly wanted to cash in on using a recognizable title, so they opted for "The Karate Kid" even though they considered "The Kung Fu Kid." Plus, the movie really does fit in as part of the "Karate Kid" series; without mention of "kid" in the title, movie critics would be calling out the film for its blatant ripoffs of the original. Even the last sequence was...nevermind, I won't spoil it. :-)

This movie did have a few annoying quirks. Jaden plays a prepubescent kid with an attitude. Sure, lots of kids that age are like that. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. The kid is disrespectful and rude at times, and he doesn't improve by much by the end of the movie. Too many times, the audience (at least I did) feels that Dre should be more respectful to his teacher at that point; but I guess it's good that he didn't do such a quick "I'm a good boy all of a sudden" kinda deal, to maintain the realism.

I'm very satisfied with this movie. It's a good movie, and I would recommend it as a movie for parents to take their kids (12 and up) to see. Jackie and Jaden do excellent jobs with surprisingly good acting. It's a feel good movie and a modern martial arts movie for kids. Watching it reminded me of my childhood and how I grew up watching movies like 3 Ninjas, Sidekicks, and Surf Ninjas. And of course TMNT. Anyway, go watch this movie. It's good. And also don't forget that "karate" is a Japanese martial art and they should have changed the title anyway. Oh well.

The other thing I wanted to mention briefly, which I should have made a post about yesterday, are portable games. I mentioned in my last post that I was playing with my aunt's Nintendo DSi XL. Well since then, I had been playing Picross 3D and Tetris on her DSi, and Crisis Core, Patapon 2, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on my PSP. And I must say, I've made great use out of that PSP, having played games like Patapon, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Kingdom of Paradise, and Final Fantasy Tactics. And with the re-release of a bunch of PSX (or PSone for you young'uns) games on the PSN to play on the PSP, Sony's hand-held is a pretty awesome system.

I'm gonna take this baby with me to Japan, and the various games I have for it. It'll do well to help pass the time while I travel. Now the question is, will Sony reveal anything at E3 this week? Nintendo is bound to steal the show with their 3DS. Can't wait to see!

Word of the day: 功夫 「カンフー」　"kanfuu", or kung fu. Also pronounced 「くふう」 "kufuu", but that's actually a different word with the same spelling and different meaning (skill, art, labor, or effort, in Chinese).

IDP and NDS

I have my International Driving Permit! Yay! Now I can legally drive in all these countries! Sweet.

I still have to send in the paperwork for my Visa, but that's very quick, I hear. And tomorrow, I'll send in the forms to get the Yakkan Shomei, so I can bring my contact lenses to Japan. Maybe I should just get laser eye surgery and not worry about this stuff again...contacts, glasses, blurry vision. Hmm.

I finally worked things out with my predecessor, who has been extremely helpful with the transition, regarding the purchasing of her things (car, appliances, household stuff). I'll have to show the same kindness to my successor when the time comes.

So I've been contemplating purchasing a Nintendo DS. I couldn't decide which version (original, Lite, DSi, DSi XL) to get, so I asked my best friend, who recommended a DSi or DSi XL. After some thought, I decided that the DSi XL would be nice for the larger, easier-to-read screen. After all, I've been playing the PSP for so long, that I've gotten quite used to its large size and weight. (I looked at my friend's DS Lite and it seemed so dinky!) Anyway, my aunt was asking me about my PSP, and she had mentioned wanting to get one to play while on the airplane. She then mentioned Tetris. "Ahhh, okay, you want a Nintendo DS then, not a PSP." So off to the mall we went! And we came back with a DSi XL, a couple puzzle games, and Tetris. Nice.

I played it a bit, and I must say; the pen stylus is REALLY nice. But I'm starting to think that the DSi XL's screen, because it's so big, and because the resolution is still the same as a regular DS...doesn't really make the games look very nice. All you techheads would know that a greater pixel resolution over a small area looks much nicer (like the new iPhone 4, for example). So now I'm leaning towards a DSi. But then there's news about the Nintendo 3DS! E3 is coming up, and more info about it will be revealed then. I will definitely wait to hear more about the up and coming system before I make any purchases. It's supposed to be backwards compatible anyway, so that's good news for me. :-)

So why do I want a DS so badly all of a sudden? Well, quite a few reasons actually. But mainly because of the great number of kanji trainers and kanji dictionaries that exist on it. I need a denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) anyway, and I'm a gamer; I might as well get a DS! Plus, I can finally play the definitive version of one of the greatest games of all time, Chrono Trigger, and the plethora of other fantastic titles on it.

Word of the day: 旅行　「りょこう」　"ryokou." It means "travel" or "trip."　It's often used when describing a family vacation somewhere.