Temporary Hiatus

Due to my busy schedule after I return, I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to keep up with this until at least January. Today, I definitely can't really post anything interesting, although I did learn a bit. I don't have the time and I don't want to make up bullshit. But here are a couple of things:

Christmas is viewed as such a minor holiday in Japan that I have an assignment that is given on the 24th and due on the 25th.

You can't print your boarding pass at home for an international flight because they need to scan your passport. You CAN check in though, and I was able to snag a window seat. :3

Operation Forever Alone started officially at 4:40 pm today (2:40 am EST). It will end on Thursday at 7:30 am (5:30 pm Wednesday, EST) when I surprise my brother. I will make an announcement on Facebook at 10:00 am Wednesday (8:00 pm Tuesday).

Day 19

Day 19 - I forgot to post this last night...ah well.

1.)    I am almost 100% positive I can fit all of what I’m bringing home in my backpack. I’m still bringing home my suitcase though.

2.)    The Soviets had created a mine called the “butterfly mine”. Children were almost always the casualties because it was designed to look like a toy. Children would pick it up and it would eventually detonate, killing the child.

3.)    The Andes are the world’s largest mountain range that is on the surface of a continent.

4.)    Nan Madol is a ruined city in Micronesia that used to be a political seat. It was built over the sea on top of coral, so it had no readily available fresh water or food.

5.)    Uluru is a giant sandstone monolith in Australia.

6.)    The Tian Shan mountains dominate the Kyrgyzstan landscape. About 80% of the country is mountains.

7.)    Shuri Castle in Okinawa was destroyed during World War II. It was reconstructed in 1992 and it looks beautiful.

8.)    In the Japanese villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, the houses still have thatched roofs. I want to go there and see!

9.)    The Cryptomeria is a large cedar-like tree. It can be known as the Sequoia of Japan.

10.) Images taken from Itsukushima Shrine are some of the most iconic images of Japan. I hope to go there too, but we’ll see if I can afford it. It’s near Hiroshima, so if I can afford a trip down there, I’ll definitely swing by!

Day 17

Day 17

1.)    Never knew that meat naturally releases gravy juices until today. I always just thought it was sauce – I was wrong. O.o

2.)    I can do half pull ups on the underside of my ladder. I can put my feet on the bottom rung and then my arms head height and then work out that way. Makes me feel awesome.

3.)    I found a website, called “It’s Not Just Mud”. They’re a volunteer group in Ishinomaki. I’ve decided to volunteer for at least a week of my two month spring break in the Tohoku region and they seem the most promising.

4.)    Hitchhiking in Japan is much safer and easier than in the states. I may hitchhike to Ishinomaki.

5.)    I can read Kindle books on my laptop.

6.)    The Uglies is, so far, a really good book. I’m terrified I’ll finish it.

7.)    I took my first bath and it was pretty awesome. I don’t think we’ll get along though – it raised my body temperature by a lot and my room doesn’t even feel chilly.

8.)    I might be allergic to my new lotion. It BURNS.

9.)    I have blisters on my feet that I just discovered now. One burned so I looked and bloody was coming out. o.o

10.) Today, the PM election took place. I think that must have been what I heard being announced over the loudspeaker.

Day 16

Day 16 - Sorry today's is a bit cheap, but hey, I learned stuff!

1.)    My laptop has a pretty good battery – or so I hope. Running some tests now. I’m really not looking forward to the lack of electrical plugs on the flight home. That and the lack of movies. I don’t usually get my laptop out, but 12 hours with only two or three movies is not a fun prospect. Currently, I have one, but I’m working on getting some from my family.

2.)    Noren make excellent gifts for people who want something very Japanese. A noren is a sort of hanging tapestry that usually hangs over a shop entrance. Some of the designs a very lovely. You can get a good discount if a design is “out of season”. I bought a summer one for around $12 or so.

3.)    I watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame for the first time. It was pretty good and now I know what a badass Esmerelda is. She’s up there with Mulan, I think.

4.)    I have lost enough weight for it to be necessary to take my belt in a notch.

5.)    Finding Disney songs in Icelandic is really hard if you don’t know Icelandic. D: But Princess and the Frog seems to be well done from what I saw.

6.)    When I walk to and from work, it’s a mile and a half.

7.)    When I walk a mile to get to school and a mile back. So I walk at least 4 miles a day (grocery store, boredom walks, etc).

8.)    From my apartment, it’s a mile to Nakano station.

9.)    It’s a 1.4 miles round trip to go to the hardware store.

10.) The giant loop I do when I’m bored is 2.4 miles, but it doesn’t feel that far at all…

Day 15

Day 15

1.)    In Japan, the train station workers have these lights they shine at the conductors to give the all-clear. People get stuck in doors a lot.

2.)    They also have an awesome coordinating system for the handicapped. If you need assistance, come to bloody Japan. They’ll get you to where you need to go.

3.)    People are so stupid sometimes – I watched a documentary on the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and so many people died because they thought the water disappearing was fascinating. Like moths attracted to the bug lamp…

4.)    You can make cake with a rice cooker, pancake mix and chocolate. I guess I’m going to save for a rice cooker.

5.)    I have no idea what Dan is going to get me for Christmas. Every time I suggest something to him, it either gets more expensive because he doesn’t buy it in a timely manner, or something happens. I’m still sore about the Samsung Galaxy player, which would’ve let me use an electronic dictionary while at school. My laptop doesn’t connect to the internet there due to poorly configured wi-fi.

6.)    The 2004 Indonesian Tsunami flung a large boat 3 kilometers inland (roughly 2 miles) and that boat has now become a tourist attraction. The locals don’t have the infrastructure to move it back to the water.

7.)    I watched an interesting video showing the concept for foreshocks and aftershocks in earthquakes. It gave a variety of visuals and had an audio segment as well, where loudness was intensity (so if you don’t like loud noises, stop it before March 11^th, 2011).

8.)    Land can liquefy during a large earthquake. The land that is especially at risk is man-made land. Chiba, Japan is mostly made of reclaimed land, so during the Tohoku quake, a lot of water surged up out of the ground.

9.)    To get to Narita Airport, it would be cheapest if I use my commuter pass to get to Takadanobaba station via the Tozai line, transfer to the Yamanote line (160 yen), get off at Nippori and transfer to the Keisei Limited Express (1000 yen). In total, 1160 yen and about 100 minutes including transfer times. That’s not too bad for a relatively simple route. I plan on leaving my apartment no later than 10:15 am to guarantee I’ll arrive at the airport by 1:00 pm.

10.) When celebrating the New Year in Japan, keep your wallet close. Apparently, there is a problem with thieves, since it is so crowded.

Day 13

Day 13

1.)    ASL seems hard, but I think it would be really useful to learn. Youtube videos are your best friend when learning an entirely visual language. Interestingly enough, the visual cues are very different from Japanese. In Japanese, it’s rude to stare intently at someone and exaggerated facial expressions only really occur in manga (or some of the ruder young adults).

2.)    Pronouns in ASL are fairly simple and have a lot to do with pointing.

3.)    One is able to scald one’s throat without scalding one’s mouth. I’d prefer to scald my mouth next time. It’s like have a really sore throat where breathing hurts…

4.)    Chloë Grace Moretz is now 15 years old. She played Hit Girl in the movie Kick-Ass a few years back and it really boosted her acting career. If you haven’t seen Kick-Ass, it’s a good superhero parody film that puts heroism into perspective.

5.)    Skrillex’s song Bangarang. I feel like this year, I lived under a rock – I missed so much new music.

6.)    North Korea succeeded in launching their rocket this time…

7.)    My friend has a photography collection of awesome Japanese manhole covers – it really makes me want to start my own. A lot of cities here have their own design.

8.)    Double meteor shower this week! :D I may go to the graveyard to see if I can spot any tomorrow.

9.)    My flight, if I’m lucky, will offer 9 movies. If not, only 2 movies for a 12 hour flight. For a wider selection $8 – I refuse. I’ll just have my dad send me ISOs of our DVD collection at home. United is the cheapest major airline I’ve ever flown. They don’t even give you peanuts on the flights from IAD to LAX anymore – 5 hours with nothing to eat what-so-ever. They had better give me two meals on my 12 hour flight…

10.) JSC likes my dad’s software and put it into a quadricopter. My dad really wants one.

Day 12

Day 12

1.)    I repaired my own headphones. I’ve never really fixed anything electronic before – dad’s always done it for me (as stupid as that sounds).

2.)    Inside your headphone wire, there are four little wires. Two go to one earphone, two go to the other. All of them have “enamel” on them.

3.)    One can remove the “enamel” by gently scraping with an exacto knife.

4.)    An exacto knife in Japan, when buying at Shimachu Home, will roughly cost you 350 yen with 10 replacement blades.

5.)    Music in HD headphones sounds so much better than when you listen through speakers (unless you listen very loudly).

6.)    Unsounded is having a fanfic writing contest! The top prize is $150. Second prize is $50. I’m seriously debating on whether or not I should enter. If you don’t read Unsounded, it’s a beautifully written fantasy webcomic by Ashley Cope. She pays ridiculous attention to detail in each page and her story telling skills are fantastic. No Deus Ex Machina in her stories.

7.)    Tonight, it’s going to get down to 3 degrees Celsius. Better wear my coat to work.

8.)    Doctors have cured a young girl of cancer by engineering the HIV virus to encourage the immune system to attack cancer cells. A little reminiscent of I Am Legend – where they used the rabies virus instead.

9.)    My dad leaves at 11:00 pm JPT to go on a business trip. Poor little brother…><

10.) One of the rarest cows in the world is the Randall Lineback, which is only sold in the DMV. There is one shop in Alexandria, VA that sells it.

Day 11

Day 11

1.)    Removing the wire casing on a wire with an exacto knife is actually quite easy. Just gently roll the wire while pressing down slightly with the blade. Do it a couple of times and then pull the casing off.

2.)    Wires inside to a pair of headphones have 4 parts. The casing, which is what you see. The colored wire, which brings sound to your earpiece. The copper wire, which completes the circuit loop. And fluffy white insulation.

3.)    I am a failure at fixing electronics.

4.)    Owl City has nice music.

5.)    The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints are probably on the same level as the Westboro Baptist Church – really fucked up.

6.)    Brigham Young University is sponsored by the Church of the Latter-Day Saints (not to be confused with the fundamentalist group). 

7.)    The Church of the Latter-Day Saints takes tithes and fast offerings. Tithes are 10% of a person’s income and fast offerings are donations given to the Church to help those in need.

8.)    The thing that pisses me off the most about the Westboro Baptist Church is that there are frequently children in their pictures, holding up signs. I don’t think people who believe in shit that hateful should be allowed to procreate. (I apologize if this offends anyone)

9.)    Gender roles are a bit of a problem in Japan. Women are expected to quit work after getting pregnant, or even after getting married, and they usually aren’t ever hired back. Japan has a high college attendance rate, but most women with children work part time.

10.) Phonophobia can refer to a fear of your own voice.

Day 9

Day 9...and no, not the StarCraft caster.

1.)    One can use Audacity to record YouTube videos on any PC. I don’t know about Macs, but I just tested it out on my computer and now I don’t need those websites anymore. I won’t go into the details here, but you can do a simple Google search to learn how. However, if you truly want to be a good fan, please support the musical artist.

2.)    I learned about the wonderful artist Lindsey Stirling today. She’s fantastic and has a unique sound. I highly recommend her to anyone who enjoys electronic, dubstep or classical (or all three).

3.)    Hiccups, when you have a very stiff neck, are agony. FML

4.)    Typically, the only rain a desert will get is from a particularly strong thunderstorm. This means flash flooding.

5.)    I wouldn’t have considered the States to be a diverse place, but in terms of flora, fauna and environment, the States take the cake. We get some of the strongest thunderstorms and have the most tornados.  We have desert, coastal forest, and swamps. We don’t have much permafrost, but we have many mountain ranges.

6.)    Sprites, often incorrectly referred to as “upper atmospheric lightning”, are actually cold plasma discharges. They occur high above storm clouds.

7.)    A “nor’easter” is a powerful storm system that is essentially a hurricane that dumps snow instead of rain in the American North East.

8.)    Breaking Dawn was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be – good thing they threw that fake battle in there.

9.)    The core of the sun is much much hotter than the exterior of the sun. 14.9 million degrees Kelvin hotter.

10.) The corona considerably hotter than the sun’s surface. The corona is the sun’s “atmosphere”. 

Day 8

Day 8, because I derped and forgot to update yesterday.

1.)    The Koreans beat the shake weight. You want to pretend to ride a horse in your living room? Pelvic thrusting is the way to go.

2.)    One of the most important factors in a concussion is the rotation of the head. Concussions and head trauma are different.

3.)    Unequal pupil size is a good indicator that something is wrong with the brain.

4.)    If you have any sort of blow to the head and feel weird/funny afterwards, you might have a concussion.

5.)    Never put yourself at risk after a blow to the head. Second-impact syndrome can do serious damage. What happens is your brain protection is already compromised and a secondary blow can permanently damage your mental facilities or kill you.

6.)    According to my facebook analysis, I talk considerably more than other people…

7.)    You never know who you’ll meet – yesterday I met one of the animators from Fullmetal Alchemist.

8.)    There was a 7.3 earthquake in the Tohoku area today. It shook the building I was in for a good minute, although it wasn’t particularly violent shaking.

9.)    Buildings will shake for a considerable length of time after the quake has stopped.

10.)   Japanese people, when it comes to earthquakes, are resilient as fuck.

11.)  Experiencing a large earthquake in a high rise is like suddenly being on a boat, where you’re being pitched around and have no safe place to go.

12.)  Warm Bodies is a new movie that, while following an interesting premise, sort of falls into the same category as Twilight – the Lion falling in love with the Lamb. Guy hungry for humans falls in love with one.

Day 6

Day 6

1.)     NC Soft is a company run by idiots who would rather delete accounts than solve the problem.

2.)    There are Americans who went to Canada to live and cannot to return to the States because they won’t be covered by insurance due to existing medical conditions that were diagnosed while they were there.

3.)    ANA offers a roundtrip direct flight for $1410 right now.

4.)    Priceline’s Name Your Own Price is a scary, but cheap concept. Who knows? I might actually test it out. – After testing it out, the price they spit at you is your “bid” with all fees including. Mine was rejected.

5.)    Magnum opus means one’s greatest work, usually referring to an artist’s (musical or physical) or a writer’s work. I learned this from Tobuscus.

6.)    My laptop seems to be able to handle Mine Craft on superflat with no problems.

7.)    Parents are turning to social media to punish their kids.

8.)    The oldest person in the world, Besse Cooper, died at 116 on December 4^th.

9.)    There is a button on my router that literally just says “function”. What the crap does it doooooo?!?!

10.)   I AM GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.

Day 5

Day 5?

1.)    The Soul Evans x Maka Albarn pairing is probably one of the most subtle and sweet pairings I’ve ever seen in a shounen manga.

2.)    The chamois is a goat-antelope indigenous to Europe. 

3.)    In the body of Ötzi the Iceman, they found intact red blood cells. These are the oldest red blood cells every found, dated around 5000 years old. It has also been determined that he had a much higher degree of Neanderthal DNA than modern Europeans.

4.)    Interestingly, tattoos have been around for centuries. Romans used them to mark slaves and soldiers. Some tribal societies used them to mark men and women for their deeds or other cultural significance. There are also cultural taboos against tattooing. Japan is renowned for having one of the most beautiful tattooing techniques, but tattoos are highly associated with the Yakuza, so people with visible tattoos are frequently banned from public places like bathhouses or pools.

5.)    To build off of number one – the subtlety is completely lost on a Western audience due to the lack of significance in holding hands. In Japan, you almost never hold hands in public. A lot of people find it really embarrassing. Even in airports, couples almost never hug and definitely won’t kiss each other goodbye. In Soul Eater, especially in the last 20 chapters, there is a lot of largely unexplained handholding. The author writes in a weak excuse, but there is definitely an ulterior motive there.

6.)    The Icelandic word for dragon is dreki.

7.)    It’s impossible for me to return home for Christmas. Well…not impossible, but financially challenging.

8.)    The Voyager 1 is a spacecraft that was launched for research purposes in 1977. It recently sent back data that it still hasn’t reached the edge of our solar system. That means that the solar system is bigger than we thought.

9.)    After watching Aladdin for the first time in over 15 years, I have come to the conclusion that my boyfriend is very similar to Aladdin. In looks and goofiness.

10.)  I have the best boyfriend ever. I know it sounds nuts, but he’s so determined to try to get me home…<3 o:p="o:p">

Day 4?

Today?

1.)    The Arabian Peninsula has the same round farms the States have…interesting. The round farms work by having a well dug in the center and then extending a long arm out, usually by about 1000 meters (3280 feet or so). But salt is currently leaking into the ground water, so it’s becoming even more difficult to farm.

2.)    My cousins and their friends sang their signature song, Come Sail Away by Styx at my cousin’s wedding reception. It was epic.

3.)    Japanese mozzarella seems to be passable. But it also seems to trigger my lactose intolerance. D:

4.)    Pushpa Basnet has been named CNN hero of the year due to her work in saving children from prisons. In Nepal, it’s common for incarcerated mothers to live with their children in prison, where the conditions are very harsh.

5.)    Bonsai trees can be several hundred years old. The most expensive bonsai tree was sold for around $1 million.

6.)    I’m having extreme difficulties understanding how to use gender and declensions in a language. Good thing Japanese has nothing of the sort.

7.)    If you ever want to buy a pair of headphones, don’t go with Skullcandy or some other expensive ass brand. Buy a pair of Sennheiser’s. Mine were $30, sound fantastic and have so far, lasted me 2 years.

8.)    My friend is now friends with the guy who founded Omegle.

9.)    There are currently flights from Tokyo to Dulles at $1356. Still much too expensive.

10.) The Pope opened a Twitter. Wtf?

Just Doing the Daily

New things learned today:

1.)    My cousin has officially married and another cousin of mine threw up on our front steps.

2.)    I’m not the only one who lives in two worlds – this one and the one inside my head.

3.)    I have lost enough weight that two shirts that used to fit me very tightly now hang pretty loose.

4.)    I met a fursuiter at Yoyogi park, who has a shop based out of my home state and is from the UK. Small world, isn’t it?

5.)    The Icelandic consonants Ðð and Þþ both represent the same “th” sound. The consonant ð is always in the middle or at the end of a word, while þ is usually at the beginning of a word (with a few exceptions).

6.)    After calculating it out, I officially do not have enough funds to do anything outside of my budget. Too bad I already reserved everything to go to Sapporo…

7.)    I fucked up my return address on 2/4 envelopes. Why is the Japanese addressing system so weird?

8.)    Fast ice is ice that’s attached to a coast and drift ice floats along the ocean.

9.)    Unless it’s extremely cold, window frost can only form on single-paned windows.

10.)  Needle ice is a phenomenon where the soil is above freezing and the air is below freezing. This causes the water to wick upwards, but it freezes, creating ice that is lifted up off the ground.

What Did I Learn Today?

Today, I learned about all sorts of things!

1.) I learned that I like a lot of the music produced by Omnia, a "pagan/wiccan" group out of the Netherlands. I had discovered their song Morrigan quite some time ago, but today I found their songs Fairy Tale and Fee Ra Huri.

2.) Akureyri is the second largest urban area in Iceland. It has a population of 17,000. Despite being 62 miles from the Arctic circle, it has a fairly mild climate, with average winter temperature lows around 22-25 F.

3.) Hello Kitty products are expensive in Japan. So are Christmas cards.

4.) At the top of America's 100 most popular baby names of 2012, Sophia is the top for girls and Aiden is the top for boys.

5.) My friends are getting together a Rise of the Guardians group cosplay.

6.) Dragons appear in many different mythologies. In Norse mythology, there is a dragon, called Níðhöggr, who is endlessly gnawing at the roots of the World Tree.

7.) It is a hoax that red haired people will be elected out of the gene pool within 100 years.


8.) The guy who lives beneath me (or next to me?) plays video games a lot. Sometimes, I swear I hear Day 9's voice. For the record, I don't play StarCraft, I just know a lot about it because my cousin, younger brother and friend play it semi-seriously. It IS the sport of South Korea - I've asked my Korean classmates!

9.) Cheddar is the only delicious cheese I've been able to find in Japan. And it only seems to be at the dollar store.

10.) A didgeridoo is a traditional Australian instrument developed by the indigenous Australian peoples. It has a very distinctive sound and is usually around 4 feet long.

From This Day Forward...

I have decided that, every day, I will post a quick blog recapping 10 new things I have learned. A maximum of two per day will go into Japanese language (because I learn Japanese 6 days a week...) and I think it'll get boring if I just post a recap of my language learning every day.

It is also considered cheating to look up things specifically for this every day, so I'll apologize and say that when I'm bored, I Google really random shit.

So here is mine for today:

1.) One of my teachers is from Fukui, Japan and Fukui is not only famous for its snow crabs  but also for the cliffs. So famous, in fact, that people from Japan go there to jump off and kill themselves.

2.) Tungsten is the world's strongest metal and the second strongest material known. However, even slight impurities can make it brittle. It has a melting point of 3,422 °C (6,192 °F), which also makes it the metal with the highest melting point.

3.) A plasma torch can be used to cut metal. Yaaaay plasma!

4.) Jack Frost is a sprite that has Norse origins. In old Norse, he was called Jökul Frosti (pronunced Yoh-kull Fros-tee). Jökul is the icelandic word for glacier or snow mountain.

5.) I learned that if I shower before my toilet bowl has finished filling, the water will keep running until I flush it again.

6.) Irksomely, Rise of the Guardians has no set release date into Japanese theaters. T-T

7.) In the comic TeaHouse, Axis just took his clothes off in the lobby. Wtf?

8.) My throat has been sore for several days...which probably means that I am sick. Or getting sick. D:

9.) I learned that I can still save my teeth if I find and take vitamin D and calcium supplements every day. My teeth have gotten miserable (I've counted 6 cavities) since I've gotten to Japan, but I'm certain it's due to vitamin deficiencies.

10.) If I wrap my onigiri in the seaweed, but leave it for a few minutes...the seaweed becomes soft, chewy and gross.

Cheesy Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving

This post will be kind of cheesy, but I wanted to give thanks in written form to all the things I am grateful for. I’m not particularly religious, but who says you have to believe in God to want to express your gratitude about life?

First and foremost, I’m grateful for having the chance to come to Japan for a year to study abroad. I’m only 2.75 months into my 11 month stay, but I’ve already learned a lot. I can speak Japanese better than I’ve ever been able to (although it’s still terrible). I have had to find an apartment, pay bills and rent. Essentially, I’ve had to make it on my own except for one large factor.

I want to thank my dad and my boyfriend of five years. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible. My financial situation took a turn for the worst, but my dad was miraculously able to come up with the money to save me from being homeless. I feel terrible that I wasn’t able to live up to my promises.

To my loving boyfriend, thanks for being my support. I’ve never been more grateful to have you for a friend and a lover. Not only have you decided to help me financially, but you still want us to be together, even though I’m 5000 miles away. For that, I think I’m the luckiest person ever.

My younger brother seems to be avoiding me (figuratively) and I haven’t really spoken to him since I left, but I also think it’s awesome that I have such a great younger brother.

I’ve spoken to my mother even less. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling it’s due to financial constraints. I’m so glad that she helped my boyfriend put together a care-package for me.

I’m glad to have a great aunt and uncle, and great friends, who have helped put together care-packages for me. If I say I miss something, it shows up a few weeks later (within reason, of course). For that, I’m grateful to everyone!