Of the grind... again
Gerf	Location: Tsumura housing - 3rd floor AV room	3/7/2005 5:27:39 AM
	Whoo... back to the old grind. *has to laugh* More translating today, though we completely finished all the original PowerPoints and pamphlets we got at the beginning. We were given four new documents to work on today, but I think we should be able to finish them on Wednesday. We're going to be doing picking again tomorrow (our last day there...), so, er, yeah. Should be fun. ^__^ Not really much else to say, I guess. Just chillin' and vacationing, I guess. I'm planning on studying my Kanji again and working on my spring break homework when I return... which will be in less than a week! Yipes. Ibaraki has really grown on me... it's going to be odd returning to Tokyo. But then, it's also going to be odd returning to America. But, you know, I think I'll be able to make THAT transition pretty well. ;)
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Of picking fun
Gerf	Location: Tsumura housing - 3rd floor AV room	3/8/2005 5:00:36 AM
	Today was another day at the warehouse, and boy did we get a good workout. I wouldn't be too surprised if on my own I moved, like, 400-500 boxes. We did a lot. *laughs* We even did some new stuff, namely make boxes by folding and taping them. Good stuff. The people there are so friendly, and we all get along so well. We took some pictures together, and when we were all done we all gathered around Apsu and watched amusing videos. Gah, it's going to be tough leaving all these great folks. They all want to see me again if/when I come back to Japan sometime in the future. And, you know, I wouldn't mind seeing them, either! Tomorrow and Thursday may kind of be a mix of translation and warehouse picking... we won't really know until later, I guess. And by later I mean tomorrow. Today is International Women's Day, and I just wanted to take a moment to send a shout out to all those women who have done so much for me, be it directly or indirectly. Those of you reading this that have two X chromosomes, no matter who you are, you're awesome. And for a few of you, I think you're a heck of a lot more than awesome... you know who you are. ^__^ Three more days...
	Photos: The packing guys	0 replies

Of more translation
Gerf	Location: Tsumura housing - 3rd floor AV room	3/9/2005 4:44:12 AM
	Translation today. Yup. I keep on messing things up over here. *laughs* A few times, I wrote my name and time on the sign-in/out sheet in the wrong place, and today I misunderstood the lady who said that we were NOT going to be doing picking today and ended up bringing everyone to the picking office only to have them laugh and say we didn't have to come in today. Then I almost messed up understanding Hajime-san when he said we'd be meeting for a ride home at 5:30... thought he said we needed to go there at 5:00, or something... I forget. *laughs again* I guess when people start giving you instructions in Japanese more and more, they don't all register sometimes. o_O; Ridin' it out now...
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Of the last day here
Gerf	Location: Tsumura housing - 3rd floor AV room	3/10/2005 7:14:49 AM
	Well, this is it. The last day I'll be making an entry from this room. Tomorrow I'll be going back "home" to Tokyo, and the whole culcural practicum will be behind me. I've got my bags mostly packed, my last load of laundry is in the dryer now... all there is left to do is sleep. Well, and finish all these drinks we have so we can shut off the fridge before we leave. ;) The taxi driver who brought us home today was certainly in a hurry to get somewhere. We were hitting almost 100 km/h at times, and he kept on looking at his watch. He never got verbally mad, though... Japanese people don't really do that. He was just... in a hurry. *has to laugh* I'm really going to miss this place. Waking up on my futon, getting breakfast from the wonderful lady here whose name I don't think I'll ever know (I could ask tomorrow, but I know I'd just forget it anyway), going to the Tsumura factory and working there, getting home and having dinner, lounging for hours up here on the third floor. I never did get any of the studying or writing done that I originally planned to do, but I effectively have two full weeks of absolutely nothing left in this break (one week having been filled with my family coming over) and fully intend to get all that done as soon as I get home. If I can write one Japanese journal entry per day, I'll have that assignment done in a week. As for the paper I have to write for Japan Study, I'll probably take pieces of my journal here and snip them into a final paper, complete with pictures and maybe even video. Or something. Yeah. *laughs* I'll figure something out. I normally do... eventually. I was worried at first that I wouldn't have Internet access when I first got here, but by some stroke of luck one was here. It's kind of interesting how... "dependent" I am on the Internet, even though that's not really the right word I want to use. There are other people out there who need me to be online... there are business operations I'm involved in that require my online presence... I've got a bunch of things I like to keep up with every day. Is it really so bad to be connected to millions of other people all the time? It seems to me that at some point or another, people just need to completely DROP the mindset that "USING THE COMPUTER IS EVIL AND AWFUL AND ROTS YOUR BRAIN AND THE INTERNET WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS REAL LIFE" and everything. Computers, technology, and the Internet have allowed me and millions of other people to share information in a way that could barely be imagined until relatively recently. Internet friends aren't real? My girlfriend and I met up thanks to the communication channel the Internet provided, and I can tell you she's quite real. I'm able to hold a job back home even though I'm in Japan because of the Internet. I'm also able to call those I love and talk to them voice-to-voice in a very economical way... thanks to the Internet. Yes, I know there are a lot of people who abuse the Internet quite a bit, and there are a lot of "fake" people out there as well as people who have let the Internet rot their brains. But there are also people who go around bullying people on the playgrounds and spend their lives doing nothing but throwing a ball against a wall. I really don't know what I'm trying to say here, except that I'm an addict. I'm addicted to life, I'm addicted to love, I'm addicted to those who mean the world to me. And it just so happens that, now especially, the Internet is how I'm able to contact them. Yeah, I think it's time for bed and stuff. *laughs* In conclusion: My stay in Ibaraki-ken was a life-changing experience I will cherish forever. WABAM. I guarantee you that is not how my final paper is going to end... ...despite the fact that, for once, it's actually true. Sayonara, Tsumura. And thanks.
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Of coming home
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - my room	3/11/2005 8:29:42 AM
	Home again home again, jiggity jig. Did some last-minute translation of Tsumura stuff today, got some pictures from the packing center boss (I'll need to update my archive here soon with them... they're great), left Tsumura to go get our bags, return, and then go to the station, got back home through the driving rain somewhere around 5:30ish. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone... especially because I don't know how to say heartfelt goodbyes in Japanese. I have a really hard time saying goodbye even in English. *sighs* I told the lady who always gave us our meals that I was really sad that I was leaving, and that even God was crying. She thought it was sweet. I'm going to miss her, as well as all the other great folks who made my stay in Ibaraki a very wonderful experience. When I came home, the only thing that had really changed was the Yoshitakas had a sort of awning thing going on over the back porch, so the rain wasn't totally owning it like it normally does. Nana probably gave me the warmest welcome... life was going on as usual, Mama with a million piano lessons, Saki-chan playing in front of the TV, Soichiro and Natsuko out somewhere, Papa still at work. It's kind of like I never left for anywhere really big. I guess I wasn't really expecting a welcome home party or anything, though. I'm all unpacked and everything, and I think I want to start on my Japanese homework tomorrow. Get one journal entry done every day and I'll have everything finished before my parents come over. Then when my parents leave, I can do some studying every day and I should be pretty much set for next semester. Well, that and I need to get my report on Ibaraki done before the deadline in early April, but, like I mentioned before, I'll probably end up splicing my journal entries together, so the whole thing's pretty much written already. ;) The Tsumura guys gave us some gifts: a box of bath additives. Hey, that's what they do! They're also going to send us each a big bath set via Takkyubin (it's like UPS) at some point, so that's cool. There was probably more I wanted to type here, but I'm too tired from traveling and leaving people and getting back and carting luggage and... yeah. I'm just going to go to bed, I think. Time to get back into the old, old grind again.
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Of readjusting to Tokyo
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - dining room	3/12/2005 7:51:07 AM
	Well, I certainly am back home. *has to laugh* Just like the old days: pretty much on my own during the day, and then during dinner I stick around and talk for quite a few hours. After lunch I went to the post office to ship something off and get some stuff at the supermarket, and for dinner the Kobayashis came over again and we had a nice dinner in the tatami room. We're still in the "after-party" of sorts, sitting at the kitchen table and watching something on TV about chickens and making eggs. So many chickens in so many cages... I feel sorry for the feathered guys... makes me sad to see chickens and especially chicks carted around like commodities. But I guess you need to do that when you're in a society that consumes eggs. I felt pretty alienated at first today, and it wasn't until halfway through dinner that I felt back at home with the family. Coincidentally, that happened to be at the same time they served me some sake that had been made using a 100-year-old method (that was the whiskiest sake I've ever had... that's shochu for you), which I think is kind of funny. *has to laugh* I now realize how much I like it when the Kobayashis come over. They're such nice folks. ^__^ Really tired now... I want to just go to sleep. I guess I should take a bath before I head off, though, so maybe I'll do that and then just crash. I reviewed my Japanese grammar today and got re-acquainted with it, so tomorrow I want to start on my Japanese journal and just get that finished. Life back in Tokyo sure is different than the life I had been living for a month. But then, I had been living the Tokyo life for six months beforehand, so I don't see it being very difficult to come back to it. I'm going to have quite a few new experiences under my belt when I return to America. I wonder how they'll translate.
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Of a day of writing
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - my room	3/13/2005 6:34:49 AM
	Wow, today was a writing day if I ever had one! *has to laugh* I wrote a TON of stuff for varying things: homework, websites, letters, all sorts of stuff. Oh yeah, and this journal. I wonder how many words total I wrote today... Other than that, today was pretty much "normal" in the sense that I stayed in my room and did work just about all day. I managed to get a Japanese journal entry done, which was actually kind of fun; chances are I'll be able to get them all finished with plenty of time to spare. I think I'll run them by the Onishis before writing them down, though, since they often correct my stuff and it's good to know how to do things the RIGHT way... as opposed to my way. ;) Um, yeah. That's about it. The Kobayashis stayed until around noon, and then I was more or less alone for most of the day. Yeah. Tomorrow there's an Amway party going on in the kitchen/dining room, but I'll probably be upstairs anyway so that's no problem. Might go out to McDonald's or something for lunch if I need to. Yup. Back to Tokyo.
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Of getting lost on purpose
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - my room	3/14/2005 7:49:13 AM
	And another day of... well, working on stuff all day. Sometimes I can't even remember everything I do... but it involves a lot of computerage, I'll tell you that much. Whew, it's tiring, too. I very well may just turn in super-early tonight. Whoo. At about 3:00 today I went out walking, mainly to go to Itoyokado and get something to eat. Actually, I was going to go to McDonald's, but I decided to save some money and just pick up a sandwich at the supermarket instead of a whole burger set (and an additional kabillion calories and blobbles of fat). On the way, I made sure to more or less lose myself in sections of Higashimurayama I had never been to before, and MAN Higashimurayama is beautiful. I mean, it's just fabulous. Certain parts of it, anyway. The parts I went through. The street layout it worse than senseless, but it's just so nice in the part of town I lost myself in. All houses, no stores or buildings or anything... just houses and trees and farms. So nice. Maybe I'll try to take a walk every day and explore somewhere new. It'd be good for me. So tired. Soooooo tired. I'd better sleep.
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Of more work
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - my room	3/15/2005 9:15:05 AM
	Another day of computer work, homework, and website work. Learning new stuff about programming is always fun, but sometimes it can be really frustrating. Sucks energy right out of you. If I weren't listening to music, I'd go nuts. Though I have been listening to the same music for two hours straight... literally... I went to the bank today to convert some traveler's cheques into Yen and then ran off to Takadanobaba to renew my commuter's pass, so I won't have to worry about that until it's almost time to leave. Whoo. And... that's it. Gonna go to bed now. Taters.
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Of a long walk
Gerf	Location: Yoshitaka residence - my room	3/16/2005 7:02:26 AM
	Another day, another dollar. Er, rather, few dollars spent on lunch. *laughs* Mama had a bunch of people over for a party again; it was pretty much the same as the one when I got my eyebrow sliced open (the scar is kind of fading, which is nice), meaning there were a LOT of little kids running around. Fortunately, Saki-chan and some little boy came up into my room only once, so aside from the noise I was left alone. I kind of felt bad just sitting in my room and working on stuff while Mama had to deal with a big party and everything, but... hm. I know if she needed help she'd ask, because she often does. I just feel like... I don't know, like I'm just keeping to myself too much or something... not interacting with the family enough. Something like that. However, the kids are usually gone somewhere, Papa's always at work, Saki-chan's either fooling around with somewhere or off somewhere else, and Mama's either gone, doing housework, cooking, giving piano lessons, or hosting a party. Actually sometimes she'll be doing all five of those at once... somehow. o_O *has to laugh* I've said it many times and I guess I'll say it again: I just live in a very busy family here. I suppose if they wanted to talk to me more they would... we can carry on conversations just fine during dinner, but when we're not eating we're not talking, either. Ah well. Such is life. They don't hate me and I don't hate them, so that's good. *laughs* I'm just not used to such freedom and lack of parental communication, since I grew up very close to my family and did a heck of a lot with them throughout the day. I'm not saying my real parents kept me locked up inside and forced me to spend time with them or anything... *laughs* ...but rather I chose to spend more time with the family than away from the family. And while I'm sure Mom might say that my sitting on Tiamat in the basement and working on stuff is being "away from the family," I'd beg to differ. ;) *pokes Mom and loves her* Around 3:30-ish I went for a really long walk through Higashimurayama. Actually, I blew right past Kumegawa, the next city over, and even into Tokorozawa, the one after that. No, wait, that's not right. Kumegawa is on one side and Tokorozawa is on the other... how the heck did I run into both if I walked in a straight line?! Well, I guess it curved a lot... ah, I'm not going to try to even make sense of Tokyo roads, because you CAN'T. *laughs* Anyway, I just thought I'd walk to some more places I hadn't been before, so I picked random streets and just walked. And walked. I was actually kind of looking for a Wendy's because I really wanted fries with ketchup, salt, and pepper (since the McDonald's here doesn't give you ketchup, salt, or pepper), though I kind of knew I never would. Walked past quite a few factories and a ton of farms, not to mention countless houses and even more vending machines (yes, more than countless). It's interesting how you'll have houses and stores smooshed up right next to each other, and then out of nowhere there'll be a shrine or temple, like, right in the middle of all that. Very interesting. Picked up some inarisushi (love that stuff... it's the stuff you get with kitsune soba/udon wrapped around rice) from some store at a marked down price (since it was, like, several hours past normal lunch hours) and ate it on my way back, which was done along a completely different route. I have no idea which direction is north, but I do have a knack for knowing if I'm heading "the right way," because even though I was walking down streets I had never seen before in a place I had never been before, I managed to pop right back on the main road that would take me all the way to Itoyokado, the supermarket, where I was planning on picking up an apple for the 15-minute walk home. Except the apples were jacked up to 158 yen again. *shakes fist* Come on, I thought 98 yen for an apple was bad. *has to laugh* So instead I picked up a Cafe Latte. Yeah, great alternative. *laughs again* I've found that I actually like coffee a bit more than I thought I did, especially if it has milk and sugar in it. It's the milk and sugar that does it, I think. Dad drinks it black with sugar, Mom drinks it with milk, but I've never seen both together. And you know, when they're together it's quite yummy. Not that I'm planning on being a big coffee drinker (since OJ is my drink of choice), but now I know how I really, really like it. The whole walk took around two and a half hours, maybe more. Whoo. Got a package from Tsumura today: a nice bath set. Lots of stuff for teh_bath. Very cool. ^__^ I can't read everything on the packages, so I'm going to let my host family use it, or at least show me how to use it. It's good stuff by the looks of it! Wow, all that talk of OJ makes me want some. Yeah, that one mention is enough to do me in. *goes to get some OJ*
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