A word or two on words

“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavour, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.” - John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society


Amen. 
A rich vocabulary is sexy.
Sexier than a rich man. 
Communication, being my strength, also becomes my weakness. 
In that the lack of it causes despair.


Or at least thats the reason I attribute the fair many (many many) 'single' months 
in my inactively non-existent "romantic life" to.
My inability to use/understand Japanese nuances in more intimately social situations.


Not that I am complaining. Single is the new blue.
But there were some long and cold winters in between. 
Literally and figuratively. 


Luckily that has finally changed, 
with me gaining a somewhat more comprehensible grasp 
on this (godforsaken/beautiful) language. 
Or perhaps just gaining more confidence knowing I have very little time left in the country.


No, I still am fancy-free, 
but with a newfound appreciation for the local...er, charm.
And about time too!


But alas, we shall see how that turns out later.
For now I must invest my own currently dwindling vocabulary into writing my thesis.
One month to go. 
Cannot.bloody.wait. 

Quote Re-quote

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. 
To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. 
This is to have succeeded.””

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Phone pics backlog

Realised I hadn't blogged in a while, so figured I should clear the backlog of pics on my phone.

Two birds flock together and all that. (Yes, I like mixing sayings)

My favourite one is: spilt milk under the bridge.
I try to live my life as such so that I never have a need to use that.

So pics:

• Tracked down this ramen place after reading a great review on http://www.goramen.com/

Kururi (くるり）has the best miso ramen I have had in my entire 2.5 years here.

• This is from a Japanese dessert place next to a river, near where I live. Thunder and his (now) fiancee discovered it. It has an array of things: red bean, soft mochi and stuff I don't even really know the names of. But most importantly, they were all super yum.

ice-cream with red bean and mochi etc, green tea and cake?

• This next one was taken at a 'service centre' stop on a random road trip taken in Feb. Service centres are found on the main highways and are for bathroom/ciggy breaks, and to refill on food/drinks. I love the food stalls and different fares that appear depending on where they are located in the country. Tiny octopus' on a grill. It was too early in the morning for me to try it out, so I just took a pic. 

Release the Kraken!

And this was found inside the service centre.. yes, soy-sauce flavoured kit-kat. again, your argument is invalid.

Add caption

...invalid because this country also has Strawberry sandwiches

after-dinner snack on the Shinkansen back from Toyama

Toyama also had tiny squid, this time I actually tried it out. But had enough for my entire lifetime because the tei-shoku (set menu) had tempura squid, pickled squid, ginger squid... you get the idea.

mini-squid overdose

Blurry squid, damn autofocus!

cultural after-shock

Photo credit: P-kun for insisting I take a screen shot of the session.

[warning: long read ahead]

This week I got to be a guest-speaker in a Media Studies class for 1st year Masters students in Sweden...via Skype. It was a fun experience and they were willing to listen to me to talk for 1.5hours... how can I not like that?!

The class was quite multicultural, the students are part of some Global Studies programme so there was a Bangladeshi, a Tanzanian, Kenyan, Syrian, Chinese, German etc.

During the introductions, one student mentioned "I hope you're not in Tokyo, all the radiation!!" It reminded me of how the rest of the world felt about this place. I joked about how she shouldn't worry, radiation can't spread via Skype.
But unfortunately, a plaguing misrepresentation of what's happening in Japan can.

I was glad to be home during the main disaster, even though my place got nothing more than a toppled up toaster and clock. My friends who were here on March 11 talk about the stress of living through the Earthquake, while the upper half of the country was being washed away and then staying on through radiation fears while being constantly rocked by after-shocks. I don't envy them.

Usually getting back to Japan after a break in Fiji is tough, but this time, as much as I loved being back home, I also couldn't wait to come back. Tokyo has become my second home in the last 2.5years, and it was weird monitoring the news from outside, trying to figure out whats going on.

I didn't have any second thoughts about coming back, although I think that also had a lot to do with which news media source you followed. It made for interesting arguments between my brother and I. My parents were amazingly supportive, and I will forever love them for that.

Finally being back helped reinforce my ideas of how things weren't as bad as the media made it seem, and that this wasn't some end of the days, zombie movie set. Life seemed to continue as normal.

But then I would find little clues on how they were anything but.
The frequent aftershocks, and the proper earthquakes thrown in between. Initially they were a bit unnerving, but I quickly got use to them. Although it makes you a bit paranoid, even the wind tapping at my window some nights makes me think its the start of a shake.

Then there are the slightly emptier shelves at the convenience stores, darker streets as shops try to conserve energy (Foreign friends exclaim, I can now see stars in Tokyo!), and the descending escalators in train stations are all switched off.

There is a kind of solemnity in the way people go about their lives. The hanami (sakura watching parties) out in the parks are still fun and lively, but a notch quieter.

There is also a noticeable decrease in foreigners. Friends share stories of embassies calling back their nationals. Other talk about few that freaked and fled. I understand their fears, and would be interesting to see the long term effect this will have on Japan.

I am also glad to be back because seeing Japan go through this, renews my faith in its people. This time I came back and people didn't seem cold, they were resilient. I heard stories of how they worked through the emergency, how they complied with the rules, even the unspoken ones. The tales of compassion, those that came out and took charge and made sure everyone was ok.

The class clown in one of my part-time teaching jobs went to every floor in his building after the earthquake and reassured people that everything was ok, while organising for the distribution of water and blankets. He's one of the youngest in the organisation, and helped calm his own superiors. This guy has never had any training in disaster management.

I would usually hit a low after getting back from home; thinking about my friends going about their lives, having children, getting jobs, promotions, fridges. I'd start questioning my life, what I was doing here. But this time, there is no where else I would want to be. This time I am looking forward to exploring, discovering and getting to know more of this incredible country, and in helping it get back on its feet in any way possible.

(apologies for the long post, this doesn't even cover half of it!)

頑張って日本！

of bubbles and socks.

I lost a bubble today, and now its gotten me all philosophical.

Walking back home with Sci-ninja after Capoeira and a bubble floated infront of us,
a strangely sturdy looking bubble, which Sci-ninja explained is one of those that don't pop easily.

:O gasp! what!

So my kaicolo self had to pick it, inspect it and decide that it was then, mine. I shall call him Bubble and he shall be mine and he shall be my Bubble

It was indeed a tough bubble, fragile but not enough to pop immediately, like a bubble that would last forever.
I tucked it into the open bag in my bicycle basket.

It was very windy on the way home.

And the bubble seems to have floated away.

Fleeting joy.
I guess there's no such thing as a bubble that will last forever.

In other news, I have decided to go sock-free. Today I was even able to go out in flip-flops! Hopefully the weather continues to allow me to do so. I hate having to wear socks through the winter here, my toes get claustrophobic.

Luckily they have those cool toe-socks here that keep my toes entertained.