Reflections and Gion Matsuri

I know I've slacked off in the past few months with this blog. My apologies. However, there are only 9 days left of Adam's and my time here in Japan, so this is likely to be my last post in this blog.

As excited as I thought I was going to be to leave this country that has caused me so much stress and bitterness, I realized that the closer my departure date looms, the more mixed feelings I'm having. Not about my job, mind you. I'm more than thrilled to be leaving THAT behind -- good riddance! It's mostly my friends I'm sad to be saying goodbye to.

It's the one big downside to being an extensive traveler and living overseas. The friends we make abroad tend to become the closest. I think this is a result of not only being in a foreign country as foreigners -- therefore, needing to "stick together" -- but also because the very reason you're overseas in the first place means you already have more in common than many of the people you know back home. Of course, this isn't true about ALL people you come in contact with abroad. There are some definite weirdos here, for sure.

But I take a strange pleasure in looking around my living room full of my friends who all happen to be from different countries. Often times, Adam and I are the only Americans (aka Yanks). The usual suspects are English, Welsh, Canadian (Canucks), Australian (Aussies), New Zealanders (Kiwis), South African, sometimes French, and sometimes Irish.

Of course, besides commiserating about our jobs and difficulties of being foreign in Japan, we also enjoy making fun of each other's accents and various vocabulary. Chips vs. fries vs. crisps. Or "pudding" meaning "dessert" in British English. That was a tough one. How do you describe American pudding to someone who's never eaten it? Custard-like but thicker and in different flavors possibly....

Or how about describing tacos, tortillas, and enchiladas to someone who's never heard of them?! (I know..... Shock! Gasp!) I didn't even try... I just promised her I'd take her to a Mexican restaurant.

Anyone know the meaning of the verb "to snog"? It means to "make-out" with someone.

How would you respond to the question "How many stone are ya?"

"Ummm, excuse me? How stoned am I? Not at all, thank you!"

Well, as I found out after the giggling subsided, a stone is the English measurement for weight. (I know, how medieval right?) 1 Stone = 14 pounds. And here I was thinking everyone used kilos outside the US!

And of course there's the Aussie/Kiwi debate about the pronunciation of the number 6. Apparently, one of them pronounces it like "seeks" and one of them like "sex". Though of course to me they both pronounce them the same, but SHHHH! Don't tell them I said that!

Also, I guess we Yanks are the only ones to say the letter "Z" like "zee". Everyone else calls it "zed". Go figure.

As you can see, these past 2 years have given me endless linguistic pleasure, not to mention the perk of having friends in countries all over the world -- excellent for traveling! I'll miss them all terribly of course as they've all been a great source of comfort and companionship and they're all pretty cool to boot!

My only other regret as far as Japan goes is not having been able to see and go to all the places I originally wanted to. Hiroshima and Hokkaido come to mind here. However, we have taken advantage of our geographical proximity to other Asian countries, which was a major bonus. The reason for this was not only because the other places had beautiful beaches and cool eco-tours, but mostly because a 10 day vacation to Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam would cost us the same as a 2-3 day trip to Hiroshima or Hokkaido. The choice wasn't that difficult! I'd love to come back here as a tourist some day and get to see the places I missed while I was "working". But, we'll see. There are many other places in the world I'd rather see and experience first.

I'm also nervous about coming home. I haven't lived in the Vashon/Seattle area for 6 years. That's a long time to be gone, and even though I've returned periodically, I'm constantly surprised and slightly disturbed by all the changes and how fast they occur. It should be interesting! I am looking forward to it, however. I feel it's time to come home and stick around for awhile -- get to know Seattle better, find a job, study some more and start doing something I really enjoy. I don't mean we're planning on settling down permanently, but for a few years at least. I need to be closer to my family now. I miss them terribly and talking on the phone just doesn't always cut it.

So here's our schedule so far (despite the fact that I applied for a job here which, if they contact me and actually want me might conflict with the road-trip.) We're flying to San Francisco on July 26th, where we'll pick up a car we're buying from Adam's grandmother. We'll drive up to Portland, spend the weekend there, and arrive in Seattle on Monday afternoon (the 30th). We'll have about 5 days on Vashon before flying to Costa Rica on Saturday, August 4th. We're enrolled in a language school there fore 2 weeks and then will be bumming around for another week and a half with my brother, Kirk, who will fly down at the end of the month to meet us. On August 29th, we all leave and part ways in Houston. Kirk back to Seattle and Adam and I on to North Carolina to visit his parents. We'll spend a week there before setting off on a road-trip that will take us through the southern and southwestern states. We'll visit friends along the way and see many of the national parks as well. We're due back in Seattle in mid-October! I'm really excited about it all and I halfway hope I don't get the job so I don't have to cancel any part of this trip that we've been planning for months and months. Though, it's a pretty sweet job, so I really do hope they contact me..... (crossing my fingers but trying not to get my hopes up!)

Anyway, here are a couple pictures from last night! We went to the Gion Matsuri (aka the Gion Festival) in Kyoto. I finally bought a summer kimono, a "yukata", which my landlady was nice enough to teach me how to wear and tie -- it's pretty complicated! I, in turn, was able to show Josy and Kendra, so we all went to the festival dressed up like everyone else! We turned a lot of heads since foreigners in yukata look really funny, and were asked for pictures a few times during the night, but it was a lot of fun.

Jessie, Josy, me and Kendra

Kendra, Josy and I on Shijo Street

Festival food stalls and my back.

One of the floats on the main street.

These guys chant and ring bells that are attached to those strings.

Art from the Gobi

So Adam and I just received our long awaited Kazakh wall hanging. It's actually from Mongolia but the women who made it are of the Kazakh minority in western Mongolia. It measures about 1 by 3 meters and was all hand-embroidered. I still am amazed they did it so quickly. I was expecting it to take a LOT longer than it did. When we opened the box it came in, it was like stepping back into Mongolia again. The smell of the Gobi desert is one of livestock (sheep, goats and horses) and sour milk. We had to air it out a couple days but it still retains its signature scent. I don't really mind that it smells that way -- gives it more authenticity and fond memories. But, I'd rather not have the entire room smelling like the inside of a ger (yurt).

Anyway, the whole thing was about $180, but Adam's brother and sister-in-law decided to give it to us as a gift, which was wonderful of them. Still $180 is a steal for something this intricate and labor intensive, not to mention absolutely gorgeous. We have it hanging on the wall above our couch in the living room, which makes the room look a bit crowded. We would have put it in our bedroom but then no one would be able to see it! I can't wait until we can get our own place back home and decorate it with all our stuff we've collected. It will have a serious Asian theme but I also have stuff from Ecuador back home as well, so all in all it will be VERY international. That's for sure. Anyway, this is so far one of the best things we've gotten. Here are some pictures. I'll post better ones a bit later.

Homophobia: A Rant

WARNING: Because of the emotional nature of this blog, I ended up using some pretty colorful language. If you think you might be offended, please skip past this blog. If not, read on and please excuse my sailor-talk. Words are just not strong enough for my feelings about this subject.

I've discovered something about myself and how I think of other people in these past couple years. First of all I've become much more liberal (hard to believe, I know) and a lot of my beliefs have become much more solidified. The one thing that gets me into a rage like no other these days is homophobia. My friend just received an email from his aunt with this link in it. This is the same aunt (actually that whole side of his family) who uninvited him to last Christmas at their place because they discovered he was bringing his boyfriend who was visiting. Not only did they un-invite him to Christmas but now she has the gall to send him a link to NoGayMarriage.com?!?!?! How insensitive can you get? My friend throws it off with a laugh, but it's hard for me to take it so lightly. In fact, it makes me want to cry and scream and tear out my hair by the sheer stupidity of thinking this way. Many of the arguments against gay marriage made on this website don't have anything to do with homosexuality at all!!! Take this one for example:

Argument #2
The introduction of legalized gay marriages will lead inexorably to polygamy and other alternatives to one-man, one-woman unions.

In Utah, polygamist Tom Green, who claims five wives, is citing Lawrence v. Texas as the legal authority for his appeal. This past January, a Salt Lake City civil rights attorney filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of another couple wanting to engage in legal polygamy. Their justification? Lawrence v. Texas.

The ACLU of Utah has actually suggested that the state will "have to step up to prove that a polygamous relationship is detrimental to society"-as opposed to the polygamists having to prove that plural marriage is not harmful to the culture. Do you see how the game is played? Despite 5,000 years of history, the burden now rests on you and me to prove that polygamy is unhealthy. The ACLU went on to say that the nuclear family "may not be necessarily the best model." Indeed, Justice Antonin Scalia warned of this likelihood in his statement for the minority in the Lawrence case.10 It took less than six months for his prediction to become reality.


Uh... last time I checked polygamy and homosexuality were two totally separate issues that have nothing to do with each other. What the hell does having multiple wives have to do with being in a committed and loving relationship with the person you choose, be it of the same or opposite sex? Besides, Mormons were the only ones who practiced polygamy and even today that's not true anymore. Most Mormons disassociate themselves with those sects of "Mormonism" who do practice polygamy and there are extremely few who do.

People who think this way make me want to puke. It's sad really and maybe I should take the pacifist side of this and feel sorry for them, but I don't. How can you hate someone so much just because of who they love? The friend I speak of is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met in my entire life and I love him very, very much. It's incomprehensible to me that his own FAMILY would insult and hurt him so much. That's NOT what family does and it's a disgrace. His aunt is a bigoted, ignorant cunt. Period. If she can't love him and accept him for the incredible and beautiful person he is then she is truly missing out and can rot in her own hell for all I care. Maybe I should be compassionate. Fighting fire with fire is never a good idea and doesn't make anything better. But when someone hurts and insults someone I love, watch the fuck out. It throws me into such a fiery rage I can barely control myself. Especially because they're doing it in the name of Christianity! The base of which is love and compassion and understanding -- at least it USED to be.... What people have done to religion these days is really fucking sad. Hating in the name of religion is an oxymoron. One that gets used way too often.

*deep breath.....in..... out.....*


Ok. I'm a little better now. I'm sorry I can't be as articulate as I would like to be about this but it's one of my non-negotiable topics. To me it's no different than hating someone because they're black or hispanic or asian or blue or purple. It's the same thing. And to tell you the truth, it almost makes me NOT want to get married for the sole principal that if my best friend can't get married then, fuck it, neither will I until that changes. Hopefully, he'll move to Canada and they can get married there and live happily without all the bullshit homophobia that is a large part of America and still controls the laws. It's another reason I would love to move to Canada and even become a Canadian citizen. I mean for fuck's sake, Spain just passed the gay-marriage law!!!!! Spain! A traditionally roman-catholic country! Our NOT passing this law is an embarrassment. We preach human rights and equal opportunity and open-mindedness... how much more hypocritical can we get?

Anyway, those are my thoughts and again I apologize for the crude language. It's hard to express rage and anger without swearing.... especially since I've been in Japan and my ability to pull out sophisticated English is nearing zero.

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 3 ... again...

So I wrote about the final leg of our journey and was uploading some cool photos when my computer decided she'd had quite enough and rebelled against me. As a result, I lost my entire blog post and am now having to re-write it. I'm not nearly as enthused about writing it a second time so it might just have to be short and sweet.

(On another completely unrelated note, something very interesting happened to me last night on the train. Adam and I were in line to get on and I noticed one woman kept glancing at me. This is normal so I didn't think much about it. She then sat right across from us on the train and kept staring at me. Needless to say, it started making me feel very self-conscious. After double-checking with Adam that I did NOT have a booger or anything else unpleasant on my face, I assumed she was just a little nuts. Well, she then proceeded to take a pad of paper and a pen from her hideous Prada bag and started to sketch something. Only as she was sketching she kept looking up at my face! She was drawing me!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, I was struck-dumb and didn't know what to do. I was feeling very exposed and uncomfortable and starting to feel angry that she didn't even ask if she could draw me. Adam said, "make a goofy face or stick out your tongue or something. I'll stick my finger up your nose or in your ear if that helps". To which I replied, "No thanks!" I didn't end up making a face or saying anything, but maybe I should have.... Oh well. Interestingly enough, this doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it would have 2 years ago.)

Ok, now back to the trip. We left KK and headed for Kuala Lumpur (from now on KL). The hostel we stayed in was really nice -- same one we'd stayed at previously and it had toilet paper! Woohoo! (Never realized how much of a perk that actually is, hehe.) Anyway, we didn't have a whole lot of time in KL so we spent the first day taking Kendra, Josy and Marc to the Petronas Towers (formerly the tallest buildings in the world and recently surpassed by the Taipei 101 Tower). After that, we went to a bar and met up with Yin Yee and her boyfriend, John. We spent a little time catching up and exchanging gossip about Vashon and our mutual friends, which was really nice. Then she and John took us around the corner for dinner at one of their favorite hawker stands. It was Chinese food and soooooooooo good! We ended up ordering a lot of spicy food that was even spicy for them, but man was it tasty! Such a relief from the blandness that is Japanese cuisine. We then proceeded to shop for pirated DVDs, only to find out that the price had gone up from about $1/DVD to about $3-$4/DVD.... not such a big deal and we came away with quite a few!

The next day we decided to go to the Batu Caves a little outside the city. The caves are in a big limestone hill and house several Hindu shrines. (For better and more accurate info go to this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves) In order to get into these caves we had to hike up 272 steps which were conveniently numbered! (No, I didn't count them all the way up!) We took time to take pictures and watch the macaque monkeys along the way. Most of them were very cute and stayed out of our way, but they have been known to steal and snatch at purses and bags (!!!). One monkey had a little baby clutched to her and he was sooooo cute in a very wrinkly and homely sort of way. Anyway, we perused the cave a little and took our pictures with a giant boa constrictor this guy had. He offered to let you hold it for a picture for 10 ringgit (so like $3). I think it was worth it since I love snakes. This one, however, was a bit "affectionate" and was trying to hug me a little too tightly... I got a bit nervous and was told Kendra to hurry up with the picture before the snake got any other ideas! I didn't notice until now, but the snake was getting friendlier than I thought with his tail there....! Then we took a tour into the "Dark Caves" which were, as the name suggests, very dark! We had headlamps to help us see and it was pretty cool. I must say that the caves Adam and I went to in the middle of nowhere Texas were much cooler.... but these were fun as well. After that we headed back into KL and since it was our last night there, opted for eating in an Irish pub since we were craving western food!

So that's about it! We had a wonderful time and had some crazy experiences for sure. Josy was the one with the camera so I'll be posting more pictures when I get them from her -- I only have a few. I'll also work on downloading the software for transferring the video to the computer so I can email it or post it somewhere for you all to see. Hopefully, I get that done soon!

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 2

After that, we made the arduous trek over the border to Malaysia. We took the subway, then a rickety bus which shooed everyone off at the border to go through immigration, border patrol and customs. We could have re-boarded the bus, but opted for a taxi instead since we just needed to make it to the hotel for the night. We flew out to Kota Kinabalu (the capital of Sabah, the northern province in East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo) the next morning. The city itself is rather boring but the thing that impressed me the most about Sabah was the fact that everyone was soooooooo friendly and nice! Guys might have stared at us like they do everywhere, but apart from the old muslim men who looked at me as if I was a whore for wearing shorts, most of them would just smile and say hi, or wave. It was really cool. (Note: I saw many local girls wearing shorts, so it wasn't like it was inappropriate attire.) Plus the men there are taller, beefier and more gorgeous than mainland Malays. I think they might have more Polynesian blood in them. Whatever it is, I like it! How I ended up with a pasty white boy who can't tan is still a mystery to me, haha! ;)

There are a few islands off the coast of the city, but they were just ok. Not nearly as nice as some of the ones in Thailand and Vietnam, but they had beaches and coral and were fun anyway. One day we decided to go white water river rafting! That was an adventure for sure! First we had to take a mini-van out to a po-dunk little town called Beaufort. From there we had to catch a po-dunk, clittety-clack, 30-year-old train into the middle-of-nowhere-jungle where the river was! This train, despite ONLY being 30 years old, might as well have been from the mid-1800's. The tracks themselves were "100 years old and haven't been rebuilt at all!" (And this is meant to instill confidence?) Anyway, it was a steam-engine little thing with no lights, no A/C of course, and hard bench seats. The windows, I noticed, were new and you could open them for a nice sticky tropical breeze. In any event, it was a very rough one and a half hour long butt massage and sauna experience, but very interesting! The country side was gorgeous and I have some footage from the train as well. We passed one house where a mother was attempting to bathe her little girl but she was having none of it! Screaming and crying and hitting her mom away.... I guess kids do the same thing everywhere, huh? It was pretty funny actually. What also amused us to no end was the group of Korean girls that were on the same train. For some reason they thought it'd be a splendid idea to wear clubbing clothes and high heals to go river rafting. The rest of us normal people were wearing appropriate clothing and rolling our eyes at these girls. Not only were they dressed for a night on the town, but they would shriek and squeal at every bump or turn (pretty much the entire friggin' ride). I don't know what they thought "white-water-river-rafting" was exactly, but someone lied to them!

Anyhoo, we finally get off the train in the middle of nowhere jungle and are briefed on the safety procedures and padding technique and then whisked off to our boats with our gorgeous local guides! (Ours were named Andre and something like Julius I think....) Kendra and I were very gung-ho about being in front where all the action was and had these manic perma-grins on our faces the entire time! The front was pretty hard but definitely the most fun. Once we were in the river we had to learn what to do when the boat capsized so he made us all jump out and swim back to the boat. The water was mocha-colored from all the silt, but it was so warm compared the the rivers back home where you need a wet-suit. The only part that sucked was when water got in your eyes -- there was so much silt and crap in the water, it kinda stung. Anyway, it took us about an hour and a half to get down the river and some of the rapids were REALLY big. We had the choice at one point to go down a particularly treacherous part of the river so we could capsize, but one girl who was with us couldn't swim very well and was nervous about it so we didn't do it. Kendra and I were a bit disappointed, but on the last big set of rapids, two big waves were converging and we hit them at just the right spot to launch me out of the boat and into the river! I was in the water before I knew what had happened! Luckily, our hotty guide, Andre, came to the rescue and grabbed me as I went by. Everyone took a hold of my life-jacket and I was back in the boat within seconds. Interestingly enough, Adam, who was in front of me, didn't even notice I had flown out until I was back in the boat again! (Thanks a lot, hun....)

After the rafting, there was a huge buffet lunch with drinks and an opportunity to watch and buy the DVD of everyone going down the river. We didn't get the video but opted for the pictures and a t-shirt. At about this time, some thunderheads rolled in and it started to pour. Now, if you've been to the tropics, you'll understand that when I say "pour" I don't mean a nice steady rain like we get in Seattle.... no, no, no. I mean more of a complete monsoon/shower, if-you-step-out-in-the-rain-you're-soaked-to-the-bone-in-2-seconds-flat kind of "pour". I love it! It's just so dramatic!

We then had to re-board the rickety contraption that brought us out there, so we ran to the platform and jumped on the train only to be told to get off again because the train had to turn around....?? In any event, I was standing on the platform with a miniscule umbrella, which was pretty much useless, when 3 of the most gorgeous guides came running over and wanted to get under my umbrella as well. No argument from me, muahahahaha! :) That was nice!

A couple days later we decided to rent a car and drive to another city in Sabah called Sandakan. Had we had more time, I would have liked to stay there since there's a lot more to do around there. Anyway, we were preparing ourselves for the possibility that the car would be 4WD and stick shift. In that case, only Kendra and I would be able to drive since neither of the 2 Brits, Josy and Marc, could drive stick (Marc didn't even have a license and Josy had just gotten hers!), and Adam wasn't comfortable with stick either. However, we lucked out and it was automatic. We still had to drive on the left side, but at least we had 3 drivers to make the supposed 6 hour journey. Keng ended up driving the whole way there since it was "just like home!" in New Zealand and she was really comfortable. And I'm soooooooooo glad she did! on our last leg of the trip that actually took us around 8-9 hours, it got dark.... and then started to "pour". And on those roads there are no street lights and since we were driving through a huge palm oil plantation all the roads were riddled with pot-holes from all the big trucks. Luckily, the truck we were following wasn't going unbearably slow so we decided to follow him all the way to the city. It's a good thing we did, too, because there were definitely a couple times we would have gotten lost had he not been there! Once we reached the city we searched for a hotel and on the 5th try we finally found some rooms in a ratty-yet-clean establishment above a curry shop and across from some bars. Outside, though, we saw some of the biggest rats I've ever seen in my entire life. One that was squished on the road was the size of a small cat! Didn't phase me much and I was actually more fascinated than anything, but Kendra and Josy were totally grossed out so we stepped over it and went to the hotel to sleep....

The next morning we headed to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center for the morning feeding at 10am. We saw a film beforehand about the project and it brought tears to my eyes. Basically, the center was set up because the wild population of orangutans is declining due to deforestation etc. They'll take in babies who have been orphaned, adults who have been caught and sold to circuses or zoos and mistreated, or others who have been trapped and kept as pets illegally by locals. The point is to rehabilitate them to be able to live in the wild again. Many of the babies who were orphaned didn't have their mothers to teach them all the essential skills, so the handlers have to help them. The feeding we were watching was a platform in the jungle where a handler would go and set out bananas and such. Those orangutans who were living in the jungle but still not quite ready or able to find food for themselves (or maybe they were just lazy and couldn't be bothered?) came to eat there. They were soooooooo beautiful and fun to watch!! I got quite a bit of videotape of them as well. I was thinking what a wonderful and fulfilling job that must be. Sad that there's a need for a rehabilitation center, but I'm glad they have one. Some of the orangutans take 5-8 years to finally move out to the forest and some never do, but others move out quickly and never come back. It seems like it'd be a bittersweet experience to raise these apes who are so eerily similar to humans and then have to let them go after a few years -- not unlike being a parent of some sorts. Anyway, that was definitely my favorite part of the trip :).

Interesting tidbit: The word "orangutan" is actually two words: orang - which means man/person, and hutan - which means forest. So "orangutan" literally means "man of the forest". Cool, huh? (This is in the Malay language.)

I was able to drive for a couple hours on the way back to Kota Kinabalu which was an interesting experience. Driving on the left made me feel 16 all over again and I had a tendency to hug the shoulder, especially when huge tour buses, semis and trucks would rumble by.... eek! I made it, however, and by the end was much more comfortable driving on the left. Adam drove the rest of the time and was also very good.

I'll leave the rest for Part 3 since my fingers are cramping and my eyes are getting fuzzy. (And so I have something to do tomorrow.... hehe.)

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 1

We just got back on Sunday after about 10 days in SE Asia. Yes, we keep going back, but that's because we have such wonderful experiences every time we go. We started off by flying China Eastern Airlines -- kind of a rinky-dink airline service that we picked because it was cheap. Well, it was cheap, we found out, because it scrimps on all the amenities such as music and movies and such. We got food, but it was nothing to write home about (but still a step up from some American airlines!).

We had a layover in Shanghai this time (thank god it wasn't Beijing) and I swear they keep the airport at 10C/50F so that no one will stay there for too long. The place was FREEZING! Not only that, but the benches themselves were metal and had holes in them, so screw trying to build up some body heat. We tried to get something to eat but only found one restaurant with venues in various places and very over-priced food. We were kinda confused by this and figured there had to be another restaurant somewhere but at the time just couldn't be bothered to look any farther. So, of course, after we order our extravagantly priced food, what do we see but a bunch of Chinese ladies coming in with KFC to-go bags! They sit down at a table and start chomping away! Damn.... not speaking Chinese can be a real pain sometimes, especially when you're running around the airport like a chicken with your head cut off trying to figure out where to go and which bloody form to fill out next -- we felt like little blind, deaf and dumb gerbils in a maze. Craziness.

One interesting thing about China is the fact that when you arrive there, even if it's only a layover, you need to go through customs and immigration to enter the country, only to exit again before your flight. So now I have Chinese stamps in my passport even though I never left the airport -- schweet!

After we arrived in Singapore we were finally able to relax a little. Adam and I went and bought a video camera which has proved to be a fantastic purchase! I think it cost us around $300, but the thing I like the best is the anti-shake feature. Usually when you zoom in, even the slightest movement of your hand will make it look like there was an earthquake while you were filming. Buuuuut, with the anti-shake feature I was able to zoom in super close and get some great footage that is just minimally shaky! Anyway, Singapore was probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen! Instead of bulldozing the nature flat to cover it all with concrete like Japan did, they decided to incorporate it, more or less, into the city. Despite seeing skyscrapers and concrete and cars everywhere, you also see loads of tropical trees and flowers everywhere. It's really cool. The people all seem really nice too and they can all speak English (such a plus!!!!). The rainbow of faces is astonishing as well. Coming from such a homogenous culture where all we see are Japanese faces, it was quite a shock. You saw Chinese, Malay, Indian, some Africans, some whiteys -- pretty much the whole spectrum. I also saw many faces of mixed origin and that was really interesting. I have to say the mixes are usually much more beautiful! I think I was drooling the entire 10 days at the sheer volume of eye-candy!

While we were walking around and getting to know the subway system intimately, we decided we wanted to do something kinda crazy and go reverse-bungee-jumping. It's basically a bench where 3 people can sit and get strapped in, that gets flung into the air like a slingshot! It was pretty wild and we have a DVD of that as well :) I was VERY impressed that Adam agreed to go since he and heights don't go together so well. He took off his glasses, which I think in the end was better for him -- if you can't actually see how far up you are, there's nothing to be afraid of! And instead of screaming like a little girl he ended up cackling like a mad-man.... it was kinda creepy (but I suppose more manly -- maybe that was what he was going for?). I LOVED it!

We went to Little India at one point to get some tasty curry but then realized after we sat down at the restaurant that not one white person was being served. Several other white tourist couples were in there and none of them had food, some had drinks. It donned on us that we were being shunned and ignored when a Japanese couple walked in and were served within 10 seconds. Anyway, after a few more minutes of uncomfortable waiting we just left and went somewhere else. That really sucked. Also, we noticed toward the end how Big-Brotherish Singapore is. In the subways you'd see signs like: No food or drink in the Subways -- $1,000 fine; or NO SMOKING -- $5,000 fine. If you looked up you would see cameras EVERYWHERE! I'm not talking about just a couple per room, but all over the place -- 2-3 feet apart! They must have footage of us from every single angle imaginable.... and probably not very flattering. Spitting is illegal and I assume this is because mainland Chinese tend to spit everywhere (this is true). Chewing gum is also illegal because one guy decided it'd be funny to stick his used gum on a subway train door. Well, the doors got stuck and the train was late. I guess that's a big enough deal there to outlaw chewing gum...?

In need of a break!!

And I bet you're all wondering: "From what? You don't do ANYTHING all day... why in the world do you need a break?"

Well.... not doing anything can actually be really tiring, as lame as that sounds. I need a break from doing nothing so that I can actually do something.... quite the opposite of most cases. Adam and I and a couple friends (Josy and her bloke, Marc, from England, and Kendra from New Zealand) are heading to Singapore tomorrow and then to Malaysian Borneo (state of Sabah) on Sunday morning. We're going on vacation not to relax, but to stimulate ourselves so we don't go completely batshit crazy in the next month to come. And, well honestly, do we REALLY need an excuse to take a vacation??? I think not! Plus, who wouldn't want to pounce on the opportunity to go to one of the most beautiful places in the world, trek through the jungle, snorkel and lay in the sun, and play with orangutans?

Anyway, while we're in Singapore I hope to find a really good deal on a video camera so that we can actually film our time there instead of just taking pics. Pictures are nice, but a video would be so much better. No worries, I'll have my camera as well. One of these days I need to get a new one, though. Since receiving it for Christmas in '03, it's seen its fair share of use and abuse and is getting a little crotchety (me dropping it at regular intervals probably didn't help either... oops!).


This past week, Aaron and Helen came back to Japan for their spring break so it was really cool to see them again! I don't think I realized how much I missed Aaron until he got here. Then it was like we'd never been apart. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a really long time... actually I take that back. Christmas wasn't so far long ago, which was the last time I saw him and we talked and talked and talked and laughed until I almost peed my pants. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to spend with either of them so that really sucks, but at least we got to see them!

So, I'm sitting at work without an ounce of inspiration to write beyond the feeling of obligation to keep this thing going and keep everyone in the loop. Not that I mind keeping people up-to-date with what's going on with me, but there really hasn't been much of anything besides the humdrum of life to write about. Sorry to be so honest, but hopefully after we come back I'll have plenty to write about and will be sure to post pics! I've now brought my headphones to work so I can listen to music via YouTube and Google videos.... I've also spent a couple hours today watching and listening to interviews by Barack Obama. After having read his book and now seeing the interviews with him, I'm even more convinced that he would be an excellent president. He's articulate, very intelligent, open-minded, realistic and most importantly: he's REAL! He's human. He's not a puppet or someone put into power by his daddy or his daddy's money. He speaks more than one language (having lived in Indonesia as a child and learning their language: Bahasa I'm pretty sure), and he's lived in a different country. Not only a different country, but a predominantly Muslim country. He went to both Muslim and Christian schools while he was there as well. I think this is really important if we're to improve our image abroad. I think it's also important because he'd have an easier time empathizing with other countries. Anyway, bottom line is: Barack kicks ass and if he becomes president it would do a world of good for our country, its people and its reputation. Oh and I agree with a lot of his perspectives... he's pro-choice, supports gay marriage and doesn't believe that he should be forcing his religious values on others (hooray!) -- that's not what a secular president (or any other politician) is supposed to do.

Anyway, I'm signing out now. Will be posting later with pictures from Borneo!!!!

Rovery Engrish Paaato 2!

*Lovely English Part 2*

Here are some amusing answers that I read on the students' homework they handed in. When I say I teach English here, you should really take it with a grain of salt. I'm not with them long enough to make a difference and the teachers themselves don't speak enough English to properly teach the kids either. As a result stuff like this happens.

I was doing a lesson on New Year's Resolutions and for the homework they had to talk about the best and worst things that happened to them in the previous year. I gave them a "hint" in class on how to answer correctly (basically how to start the sentence). I told them to write, "The best/worst thing that happened was when..." on their papers and they only had to finish the sentence making sure to write it in the past tense. They seemed to get it in class, but obviously they ignored me or didn't understand what to do. Here were some of the really good results (and a poignant example of why I want to stick a pen in my eye every day):

Best thing: "My love beared fruit and I was very happiness."
(They don't seem to be able to tell the difference between a noun and an adjective despite having both in Japanese)

Best thing: "I could see my love's face when leave junior high school's graduation ceremony."

Same student's worst thing: "I could not do a declaration of love to my love."

And this one is a hope for the New Year: "I hope to be a massive girl."
(Someone should fire the guy who did the translations for those damned electronic dictionaries!)

And here are some of the worst/most mangled ones I got:

Best thing: "beautiful the my room" (Uhhh... what the hell is THAT supposed to mean??? I couldn't even correct the English on this one. I just didn't know where to start!)

Best thing: "was when I heavied my body." (...*sigh*...what?)

Best thing: "was when I give to bargain." (*hitting my head against my desk*)

Worst thing: "was when broken foods." (I'll tell you what's broken, darlin'. Your head is broken! What in the world are you thinking??????)

And a hope for the New Year: "I hope to be King of eath." (I could only assume that "eath" meant "Earth". This kid is creative and cool and he was only missing the "r"! Congrats buddy!)

The sad part about all this is the fact that I've given up on teaching myself Japanese but still am able to pick up more day to day and can actually translate the majority of the important parts of my lesson. I go around to students and have to explain how to do the activity in broken Japanese -- but at least I'm trying AND they understand me! I only half-ass taught myself during the first year here and can speak more Japanese than they can of English despite having "learned" it for years!! They can't speak to save their lives! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!?!?!? GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I suppose the positive side of this is that it's much more amusing to correct homework when they butcher my language to such an extent. If their English was perfect, then it'd just be boring!


Edit: I just looked up and realized that the teacher sitting across from me had a folded towel on her head..... why does she have a towel on her head???? She's acting perfectly normal and no one else seems to be disturbed by this.

Wait, she just took it off. Was it just for temporary storage? I guess that makes sense. I mean why put it on your lap when you could just as easily put it on your head.... where the hell am I? Africa? *panicky feeling starting in my belly* What's going on????