CHINA??

This really deserves a big HOLY SHIT!! I thought that all blogger pages were blocked while I was here in China so I have been unable to write in quite some time. However, apparently something changed and now it is open! Hopefully I will be back on here writing again soon to tell you about some of my adventures that I have experienced thus far on my semester in China.

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy Especially in Japan

Well in less than a week I head home, back to the US. I am excited for my return home for the holidays, however it will be difficult to leave Japan. Being a gaijin in Japan quickly makes you feel like a celebrity, everywhere you go you seem to draw stares and lots of attention. Lately, I think I have been told I look like Matt Damon at least 5 times a day, and mostly by random strangers. Oh, Japan is quite entertaining, I really can't wait for me next return back.

Japanese Onsen

When you come to Japan you will definitely hear about onsens and public baths. It is most definitely an experience that you have to try if you haven't ever before. I strongly recommend the city of Shirahama in southern Wakayama prefecture. This last weekend my friend from Spain and I took the two hour shinkansen ride to the city to give it a try. After purchasing our 1ft sq. towel we journey to the baths that sit between rocks right beside the ocean. After an hour or so sitting in the baths that ranged anywhere from 83-55 degrees Celsius, the sun was starting to set. At about five minutes before 5 o'clock I can easily say that I saw the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. An unforgettable experience.

Somebody sit next to me. Please!

Have I complained about the transportation here yet? When you first arrive in Japan the public transportation is usually one of the first things your amazed by, thousands of rushing people squeezing into small spaces. But I think as I have been here for a while my impression has changed, mostly because of the fact that no one will sit by me. Recently I lost my bike key and have been riding the bus to school which is completely inefficient and uneconomical but nonetheless an experience. Most mornings after a few stops the bus starts to fill up. I am usually one of the first stops so manage to get a seat, but a lonely one. After the bus fills,people squish into every crevasse of the bus except the perfectly comfortable half of the seat next to me. Aww, the life of a Gaijin. Won't anyone sit by me?

Don't be shy!

I'm continually amazed by so many Japanese students' inability to speak to a group of people. I have been in a small school club at my university in Japan and even some of the most outgoing people find it difficult to speak in front of more than five people. The club I'm in consists of no more than 30 people all of which have been friends for the last several months. Besides the few leaders of the club hardly anyone ever speaks up. Half of the meetings I am unable to understand through the rapid pace of every one's Japanese, however, sometimes I feel obligated to interrupt everyone so that a new voice or opinion might be heard. I can very easily see how business in Japan is done through authority roles expressing ideas and the majority quickly following without hesitation. If I ever get the chance to teach in Japan I think I am going to stress public speaking for all the students. And for any Japanese out there who are interested, don't be shy! Please!

Order gets sickening

Sometimes in Japan its easy to feel overwhelmed with order. Almost every worker knows their job perfectly, so perfectly if you might ask them to perform something out of the ordinary they usually say no. Rules are also followed to a T. The other night at a local festival with thousands of people of everywhere in the streets and alcohol flowing, the local police made sure every person knew where to be and definitely where not to be. In these high traffic situations often seen in Japan the few foreigners there always receive a few orderly yells "Move GAIJIN". This order to the way things work around here can become overwhelming at times and become somewhat sickening.

Parrallel Synchronized Randomness (PSR)

A term recently brought to my attention through the movie The Science of Sleep. "P. S. R. Parallel Synchronized Randomness. An interesting brain rarity and our subject for today. Two people walk in opposite directions at the same time and then they make the same decision at the same time. Then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it, and then they correct it. Basically, in a mathematical world these two little guys will stay looped for the end of time. The brain is the most complex thing in the universe and it's right behind the nose. Fascinating! " The reason I have been reminded of this is that lately in Japan it happens to me almost every day. Unfortunately for me it's not connected to a lover as Stephane thinks in the film. Instead rather an embarrassing, sometimes dangerous experience where either on my bike or by foot I almost crash into someone.