Sorry for the radio silence last week, but I managed to give myself a concussion and wasn’t up to doing productive things for a bit, so I took a week off from, well, everything I guess. It has been an exciting couple of weeks though, so here goes:
Hippies, Ho!
Yes, Japan has hippies, and I found them! I had no idea I would be so lucky as to stumble upon them at random. Some friends invited me to a beach party, and I happily tagged along. One friend had a booth there selling vegan food and smoothies. I love to insert myself into various groups of people, even more so in homogeneous Japan, and I had a most excellent time. There were flowing skirts, drums, a didgeridoo, hippy dancing, vegan and vegetarian food, and ridiculous amounts of fun. It was incredibly UNlike the rest of Japan, and it was like a healing draught to my beleaguered soul. Okay, I have no idea where that came from, so I’m going to quit while I’m ahead and move on to the next topic.
A Taste Of India
I went to an event called “A Taste of India” which, naturally, took place on the second floor above a shoe store in a dollar-store arcade. I mean, where else would you look for one of these? I had no idea that the same Praveen Kumar I made infamous on my blog was the culinary host of this event, and also took part in the presentation.
I dragged my new roommate along, but the presentation turned out to be in English. My new roomie is Vietnamese, and doesn’t speak any English, but her Japanese is excellent, so I ended up translating for her. Let’s see, that made me:
An American translating an English-language presentation by an Italian man about Goa (India) and its Portuguese culture into Japanese for my Vietnamese friend.
We had SO MUCH FUN!
While the above makes me look and feel “pretty damned cool,” I must admit to using the concept “translate” rather loosely here. Basically, I spit out every third or fourth word into Japanese, with minimal context and almost zero grammar, just enough so my roomie could have a clue what was being talked about. It was way better than nothing, though, and after we started doing that she enjoyed it way more.
In any case, situations like the above are what make me the happiest about traveling abroad, and I felt honored to get to (try to) translate for her.
I dragged my new roommate along, but the presentation turned out to be in English. My new roomie is Vietnamese, and doesn’t speak any English, but her Japanese is excellent, so I ended up translating for her. Let’s see, that made me:
An American translating an English-language presentation by an Italian man about Goa (India) and its Portuguese culture into Japanese for my Vietnamese friend.
We had SO MUCH FUN!
While the above makes me look and feel “pretty damned cool,” I must admit to using the concept “translate” rather loosely here. Basically, I spit out every third or fourth word into Japanese, with minimal context and almost zero grammar, just enough so my roomie could have a clue what was being talked about. It was way better than nothing, though, and after we started doing that she enjoyed it way more.
In any case, situations like the above are what make me the happiest about traveling abroad, and I felt honored to get to (try to) translate for her.
We Miss You Anastasia!
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My classmate Anastasia went back to Russia last week after nine glorious months in Okinawa. She loved it, we loved her, and we miss her. We had a going away party with fun and games and speeches, and I somehow got nominated to emcee this thing about 20 minutes before it started. I didn’t mind... I probably have the lowest level of spoken Japanese in my class, but my accent is easily understood by everyone and they love making fun of me when I screw up royally, which is every other sentence or so. All in good fun!
The Age Of Aquarius
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The school wrangled together all of the students this past Saturday and bussed us the two hours up to Nago to see the Okinawa (Churaumi) Aquarium (水族館). They had 14-meter (45 feet) long whale sharks. Inside. Three of them. The mesmerizing main tank area has over 7,500m3 of water; I stood in front of it for an hour just watching. Incredible.
Baby turtles, big mama turtles, sharks, fish galore, eels, manta rays, incredibly weird-looking deep-sea high-pressure creatures, and plenty of signage to learn about it all. I was in heaven.
They had fireworks over the ocean in front of the aquarium. The fireworks zipped and popped and crackled and wowed for nearly an hour, and I was thoroughly impressed.
The bus ride there and back was incredible for different reasons. One of the Bangla students pulled out his guitar and I was surrounded by fifteen or so gustily singing Nepali and Bangla and Hindi ballads and folk songs. I grinned from ear to ear the entire time.
Baby turtles, big mama turtles, sharks, fish galore, eels, manta rays, incredibly weird-looking deep-sea high-pressure creatures, and plenty of signage to learn about it all. I was in heaven.
They had fireworks over the ocean in front of the aquarium. The fireworks zipped and popped and crackled and wowed for nearly an hour, and I was thoroughly impressed.
The bus ride there and back was incredible for different reasons. One of the Bangla students pulled out his guitar and I was surrounded by fifteen or so gustily singing Nepali and Bangla and Hindi ballads and folk songs. I grinned from ear to ear the entire time.
Take Two And Don't Call Me In The Morning
a sandal.
a set of stairs.
a step.
a puddle.
a slip.
a slide.
a fall.
a bad fall.
a head injury.
scared.
alone.
unconscious?
don't think so.
a walk.
my school.
a friend.
another walk.
a hospital.
no good.
a drive.
a bigger hospital.
a bed.
thank God.
an hour.
a crazy headache.
can't see straight.
can't think straight.
uh oh.
a doctor.
a neurologist.
an mri?
an mri.
loud noises.
back to bed.
feeling better.
an mri report.
a subdural hematoma (scalp bruise).
mild neck trauma.
a concussion.
no fracture.
no bleed.
no scary stuff.
no brain problem.
a percocet.
jeeze doc.
percocet?
no thanks.
i wanted tylenol.
a day of bed rest.
ouch.
but okay.
moving slow.
rest today.
and three days after.
Damn.
The entire process took less than four hours from the time I hit my head to the time my friend dropped me off at home. Again I am eternally grateful to the Japanese national health system and to my school for their unfailing support in times of need. Well done.
Until next week!
Sam
a set of stairs.
a step.
a puddle.
a slip.
a slide.
a fall.
a bad fall.
a head injury.
scared.
alone.
unconscious?
don't think so.
a walk.
my school.
a friend.
another walk.
a hospital.
no good.
a drive.
a bigger hospital.
a bed.
thank God.
an hour.
a crazy headache.
can't see straight.
can't think straight.
uh oh.
a doctor.
a neurologist.
an mri?
an mri.
loud noises.
back to bed.
feeling better.
an mri report.
a subdural hematoma (scalp bruise).
mild neck trauma.
a concussion.
no fracture.
no bleed.
no scary stuff.
no brain problem.
a percocet.
jeeze doc.
percocet?
no thanks.
i wanted tylenol.
a day of bed rest.
ouch.
but okay.
moving slow.
rest today.
and three days after.
Damn.
The entire process took less than four hours from the time I hit my head to the time my friend dropped me off at home. Again I am eternally grateful to the Japanese national health system and to my school for their unfailing support in times of need. Well done.
Until next week!
Sam
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