Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A little bit of complaining and terrible news.

So the terrible news should come first:

This morning, the train was delayed for 30 minutes because somebody jumped in front of it.

You read about this happening in Japan all the time but when you actually experience or are affected by it actually happening, well it's very unpleasant.

On the way home, as the rapid express train was approaching, I stood near the railing and watched the headlights come closer and closer.  It seemed like it was taking forever for those small gold lights to arrive.  Then, before I knew it, the train was roaring past beside me at blinding speeds--blowing my hair and shirt all over the place.  I just couldn't help feel so sad at that moment.  I felt as if I just experienced the person's last view and last moment on earth.  I could have easily jumped right in front of that train too, traveling at some odd 200 or more kilometers per hour.  It would be over so fast!

But I'm not suicidal.  It was such a sad moment.

NOW for the complaining!

2 things:

1)  What's wrong with Japanese people?!  Nobody was even phased by the suicide!  In fact, a lot of people were angry that the train was delayed.

I told my host family about the suicide and the first thing that my host mother said was, 迷惑 (めいわく) meiwaku

迷惑 is very hard to translate into English.  It's a rude thing that affects everybody.  When a company produces a product that needs a recall, that's 迷惑.  Every year, the emperor of Japan apologizes for WWII, because what Japan did was create a 迷惑 to it's own people.  (God this is hard to explain.)

迷惑 is when you do something bad that affects others in your same group.  Since Japanese are very group minded and nationalistic, WWII, getting involved and eventually leading to Hiroshima, is a 迷惑 committed by the old government because it negatively affected the Japanese people (a lot of them died, etc).

So basically, my host family didn't even feel a bit bad for that person.  They said he committed a 迷惑 on all the people riding the train that morning, and more importantly, to his own family.

I can agree, but daaaaang don't you even feel a bit bad?


2) I'm sick.  I don't know what I ate on that temple excursion, but it is ruining me.  Everyday I have a headache all day and night, my whole body aches, my neck is stiff, my shoulders are stiff, my lower back feels like I'm pinching a nerve every time I bend.  And I am throwing up.  I ask for aspirin or some kind of pain killer and my school and family do nothing but tell me to stretch and take some joint-health pills.

Can I get a pain killer, a fever reducer?  Nope.  Just take some joint-health pills for old people and stretch your shoulders and you will be fine.

I had a fever last night!

Just take joint pills and stretch.  OK Fine I get it, I need to ask my fellows for some freaking advil or something.



OK done ranting.  It's OK to rant sometimes about Japan, contrary to popular belief, this place isn't perfect you know.  And their are no more samurai, and pokemon never existed in real life.  Sorry to kill your dreams.

But I still like it here, just wondering why I can't get an aspirin or something?

(super short temple trip video coming soon)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Pics from 高野山 !!

高野山 is the heart of Shingon Buddhism in Japan.  The mountain range actually looks like a giant Lotus Flower, with the main temples and graveyard right in the heart of the flower!~

I don't remember the important names because I am bad at Japanese names and didn't write anything down T-T sorry.  Here are the pics, the video will come later, I hope you enjoy!


A pic of the mountains as we rode the train to the heart.











The track that our cable car would soon take us up.  It was long and STEEEEEEEEEEP!
(That isn't the top, the car was approaching.  The top is out of sight because the track turns the left and is much too high!)


















For those that still don't believe me: the green grasshopper that this spider is munching on, had a wingspan approaching 4 inches!  Why is it that the only thing in Japan that isn't small, are the bugs?!











Here are some pics from the famous graveyard which holds the graves of many famous samurai and Japanese:












 








































































































If you can get a stone to land on top of a gate, you are granted one wish! でも、できなかった。






















The founder of 高野山



















































A hidden Mausoleum.








































 
















































































































































There was also a really cool little box, with a HEAVY and LARGE stone in it.  You are supposed to reach inside the box and try to put the stone up to the top level inside the box.  If you do, you get 1 wish!

They said that those who are guilt-free will have an easy time to lift it, while those who are full of guilt won't be able to do it.  Guess what?!  I lifted that sucker up to the top like it was paper!  And some guys even bigger than me couldn't even get it half way!  Some girls got it too!  Weird, I think I believe the stone.  So I get 1 wish!!  O(∩_∩)O
(Sorry there are no pictures, this box was in a part of the graveyard where no pictures or video are allowed, it's one of the most sacred places.)


There was also a temple grounds with some cool temples, check them out!












































































Well that's it!  I hope you enjoyed it!  The video will be coming soon, don't expect anything special as my videos aren't the greatest!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Going up the mountain with the French!

Here is the video I promised.  Sorry that it is late, I have been living like a monk at 高野山 (こうやさん) Koyasan.  I have video and pictures and will post that this week!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOkLrbmsXek

Apparently I don't understand Sony Vegas Pro 9 as well as I thought, so there are some transition issues in this video.  ごめんね!

I'm aching all over.  Good night.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

ONE GIANT POST TO RULE THEM ALL

So a lot of you have been yelling at me to post more!  And rightfully so!  Some of you even know that it was Silver Week in Japan, so I didn't have any school.  You asked, "Bence, you don't have school, so why aren't you posting?"  Well my friends it's because I've just been having waaaaaaaay to much fun!  And now, I will forgo the process of separating  my week and just post one giant post with all of my activities!


I'm afraid I wont be able to put videos up until next week sometime as I will be going on a Mountain Temple tour field trip.  We will be living as monks and doing monk things.  I will be sure to try and take pictures and video of allowed.




OK!  My friends and I went up 六甲山 (ろっこうさん) Rokko Mountain.  This was the first time that I had ever went up a mountain.  We were accompanied by Cory's host family, the 森本 (もりもと) Morimoto  family.  There was sort of a theme park for children at the top, but lots of sight-seeing to be had.  Here is a pic from the top:



Well after that we went to the beach.  Well, it's a beach but they don't have the nets set up offshore to keep the animals away.  They all said swim at your own risk but jellyfish are abundant during this time of the year.


Being the badass Amuricans that we are, we decided that jellyfish weren't worth fretting over and swam into the deep.  Deep deep.  Like Jaws attacks deep.  It was a bit scary.  The water is actually supposed to be a bit dirty since Kobe is a port city, and well, I could tell.


The water is clear in the sense that you can see very well through it, but it sort of stings your whole body as you are in it.  As we speak I'm growing a 3rd arm!


Well I couldn't take a picture of it because my hands were all wet or sandy, but we did run into jellyfish!  It was pretty scary!  In the process of trying to get out of the ocean as quick as possible, I stepped on a crab.  He wasn't too happy about that and let me know about it quite clearly   (,,#゚Д゚) !!


It's a shame that I couldn't take a picture, because we managed to capture a jellyfish and check it out pretty well, they are actually pretty heavy!!  Well here is a pic from the beach:












 That's right, we found a log!  It was drifting in the water and we swam out and brought it back!














_________________________________________




The next day, I went back to 六甲山 with my friends from France  and two friends from Japan!  I'm so ashamed to say, but I accidentally deleted the pictures that I took  T-T  But I have a nice video in the making which I will post soon!



During my expeditions I became hungry one late night and walked to the nearest Co Op and bought a cute little vegetable and fruit drink, and umm.... well just look at the picture:














The Holiday was great, and if I had to sum it all up in 1 more picture, well it goes without saying:


















Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Slow times, but soon a big trip!

Sorry for not posting in a while.  To be honest, things have been pretty slow and boring this week.  :[

Not that Japan is especially boring, but because school really started so I spend my time studying, not running around getting cool footage.  But there is always the weekend!

I wanted to let everybody know that I will be going to a mountain named 高野山 kouyasan.  We will be visiting ancient temples and secret places full of mystery and beauty.  I just recently had the pleasure of watching Miyazaki's Spirited Away  (千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi).  If you haven't seen it, I suggest it.  AND I HATE ANIME!  So you know this is good.

I will record the temples and nature, and beauty of the mountain and share it with all of you!~


Also I wanted to share something crazy.  Today, in the news, there was security footage at a convenience store in Japan, where a small herd of bulls ran into the store and started knocking things over.  Shortly after, a COWBOY on HORSEBACK entered the store and rounded them up. 

What the heck Japan?

Also, one of these days, I promise, I will record the traffic around my house at night.  Every 10th car is an RX7, Skyline, GTR, 240SX, 300ZX, etc.  For those that love cars as much as I do, look forward to it!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Getting naked with a bunch of dudes

So today, I went to an 温泉 onsen (hot-spring / spa).  It was segregated by sex of course. 

Needless to say, 温泉 are very popular in Japan, therefore it was full.  Of men.  Naked men.  And me.

To make things more embarrassing, I was treated to the 温泉 by Corey and his host family.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful to them for the experience, and I am indebted to them for letting me spend a night at their wonderful house, but being naked with strangers is something I can shake off with time, but being naked with your good friend...you remember that for a long time.

Anyways, to be honest, after about 20 minutes, you forget that you are naked and start walking around full stride like the regular patrons. 

Now that embarrassing confession is out, let me tell you how awesome it was!

温泉 heal you.  Literally.  There are salts and temperatures and water jets that when combined in seemingly infinite yet meticulously calculated variations, can and do heal you and make you feel like a new person when you leave. 

The 温泉 that I went to had both indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna and mist-sauna, and like all Japanese hot-springs, a shower area where you wash yourself very thoroughly on small stone benches. 

I would love to show you some pictures, but for obvious reasons, I didn't take my camera with me.  I think if I recorded that in HD, I would be charged for some kind of crime--guaranteed.

Corey and I felt so great after the 温泉 treatment, that we decided to go back every weekend, time permitting, and get a healing soak while experiencing something that is extremely Japanese and a large part of their culture. 

For 2 people, it is only ¥700 per hour.  A very good price for the most relaxing and body rejuvenating experience that is 温泉。

 
 

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

2nd Video!! Japanese placement, and cell phone pictures!!!

First off, here is the link to the new video (it takes a while for youtube give me the HD upgrade, so if it isn't there, it will be soon):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhd7OVHaosU






The video is about the Okura Hotel in Kobe.  I hope you enjoy!


So today I received the results of my Japanese placement exam.  I tested into 4th year Japanese!!  YEEAAAA  Right where I belong!  Perfect!

Ok now to more interesting stuff, my phone.

Phones in Japan can do 2 things ours in the US can't do very well yet.

1)  Send entire phonebooks / single entry / your own info via Infra-Red beam to another phone, to save the hassle of exchanging info!

2)  Watch TV.  Anywhere.  FOR FREE.


Here are some picks of my gangstalicious phone:
























































I apologize for the fuzzy pictures.  I'm still rushing to do everything here still.

Well I have to go to bed.  Enjoy everybody!