tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128863586517804812024-03-18T19:50:06.768-07:00Studies in NagasakiSmall Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-51198828454759060202009-05-28T06:01:00.000-07:002009-05-28T06:15:00.133-07:00NHK DayNHK is the national television station for Japan. Anyway, a couple weeks ago they had a day in dedication to themselves. I'm not really sure what the purpose behind the event was, whether anniversary or whatever. Regardless, I went with a group of people set on watching some fireworks. There was a stage occupied by various Jpop performers, and a tent full of NHK related stuff including news desks for people to sit at and get their picture taken, etc.<br /><br />It's difficult to take good pictures of fireworks.<br /><br />Anyway, my key fell out of my pocket while there (thus barring me from my apartment...), so I returned the next morning to look for it and ask the koban (police box) if they had it. They didn't. Regardless, I took some pictures of the port since I still had my camera on me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyehNG1K7XUPi1A-4LmjiOhdtOSTE31dgN0J-ofcVgXNQ4dqr3lHBTz__-KBtJb9duGCrB7SkN2UXelSdvXzQNq37J7U31r9dJE3BbSH5Z85C4wjqK_9vioxICVvSl-yuXFByTpOiQqA/s1600-h/newbb+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyehNG1K7XUPi1A-4LmjiOhdtOSTE31dgN0J-ofcVgXNQ4dqr3lHBTz__-KBtJb9duGCrB7SkN2UXelSdvXzQNq37J7U31r9dJE3BbSH5Z85C4wjqK_9vioxICVvSl-yuXFByTpOiQqA/s400/newbb+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340861383219109154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qEuKia_EWLR69ikU89NOgjn_suNqHv5bl6ZkUaPY9pQ_F1jaZdU2sZ_JoEiTC_HKxcUT2_MSU3GK_qfms0-FZiHXoH5I-7SJvP2BfT4u00gOYez96gIwY_zWrolrIONlvZfwXK4D0A/s1600-h/newbb+034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qEuKia_EWLR69ikU89NOgjn_suNqHv5bl6ZkUaPY9pQ_F1jaZdU2sZ_JoEiTC_HKxcUT2_MSU3GK_qfms0-FZiHXoH5I-7SJvP2BfT4u00gOYez96gIwY_zWrolrIONlvZfwXK4D0A/s400/newbb+034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340861545650788674" border="0" /></a><br />A week or so later, I returned to the port-side park for a picnic. This date coincided with the seeing off of a Japanese Navy vessel:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_NxiPUj57anEZU-8fA10JOlxdhIOtIX67lVSnI8gWs9dS18Dd5Z5bbvdUTZahH5O7CDZ2cqfegz7066OhRr75FJh-ccsCC4JKTciz3boP1nprTzZbJ5qs1a25W4_eS6IPD82shOuIA/s1600-h/newbb+043.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_NxiPUj57anEZU-8fA10JOlxdhIOtIX67lVSnI8gWs9dS18Dd5Z5bbvdUTZahH5O7CDZ2cqfegz7066OhRr75FJh-ccsCC4JKTciz3boP1nprTzZbJ5qs1a25W4_eS6IPD82shOuIA/s400/newbb+043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340862272750413986" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-20782655090924961822009-05-28T05:39:00.000-07:002009-05-28T05:55:39.118-07:00佐世保Well the beginning of May was Golden Week, a time for vacation in Japan when a bunch of holidays occur concurrently or within a short period of each other. I got the 4-6th of May off, so it wasn't exactly a week for me. Anyway, during this time I went on a short day trip to Sasebo with a friend and his host family. Sasebo is a city about an hour and a half away from Nagasaki, but traffic was backed up on the way, so it took a little longer than that. The population is about 1/2 the size of Nagasaki. We went through the excessively long shopping strip, a park, and ate Sasebo burgers (which are burgers with all the toppings plus an egg). Delicious. Sasebo holds one of the U.S. Navy bases which, as I'm told, sells American food and has a Taco Bell. Despite the military base, it was still quite surprising to see so many foreigners there.<br /><br />Some pictures taken from the inside of a moving vehicle:<br /><br />En route:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIYjBMZrBGi11ze2JZqLCy7RwZsrbzuC6QdcmocjuigBo9k6TTxTUHz9HRHOnhaZr8UkqME_nXQcmda3fsNOr_2ujlWqqNK9W_a8e73vx_FSy-1tsn90RujD033IKWX5JiaZ8gkQKPw/s1600-h/newaa+069.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIYjBMZrBGi11ze2JZqLCy7RwZsrbzuC6QdcmocjuigBo9k6TTxTUHz9HRHOnhaZr8UkqME_nXQcmda3fsNOr_2ujlWqqNK9W_a8e73vx_FSy-1tsn90RujD033IKWX5JiaZ8gkQKPw/s400/newaa+069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340856011286621266" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw66PHDiI8raeloVxv97e2S1G8H4cOWe5nivOsLbWNoH8g2GgQvQdVB4eIEV5pJAouu8tBfk_RiAPj6aiYeIwcdkEDdV22TaXx0sQ3cegibVaeIVWi-FjYbOMT-ITGdL2b2vb-JHr6g/s1600-h/newaa+076.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw66PHDiI8raeloVxv97e2S1G8H4cOWe5nivOsLbWNoH8g2GgQvQdVB4eIEV5pJAouu8tBfk_RiAPj6aiYeIwcdkEDdV22TaXx0sQ3cegibVaeIVWi-FjYbOMT-ITGdL2b2vb-JHr6g/s400/newaa+076.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340856201013645826" border="0" /></a><br />The shipyard:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-NWbx8qtMMKAiIaFVCCWuBPtDRDqLMtlas9FAaD9UxbqnoVRvK8Hum_1Tpw-jVJ2wI-qLtvUqXxEYHiHzKnDzo50IgFuJS0NDhWMlUHBqGoBXPdTbECIY37HD31DHAj6Ea6Dkv7nBw/s1600-h/newaa+085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-NWbx8qtMMKAiIaFVCCWuBPtDRDqLMtlas9FAaD9UxbqnoVRvK8Hum_1Tpw-jVJ2wI-qLtvUqXxEYHiHzKnDzo50IgFuJS0NDhWMlUHBqGoBXPdTbECIY37HD31DHAj6Ea6Dkv7nBw/s400/newaa+085.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340857227693020914" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYqbMZe5uXlfEizNw5DQ4D0KOM3k-9-PPJ0R0TLXTUKA83JorQ3QdIiSjINkkU8NNvckQQvQTU91wmKRd1wilahgih6zvewK-ltJEcvTV8lkfuz48lXyFpUheVQY_YngBRRur3n3cmg/s1600-h/newaa+084.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYqbMZe5uXlfEizNw5DQ4D0KOM3k-9-PPJ0R0TLXTUKA83JorQ3QdIiSjINkkU8NNvckQQvQTU91wmKRd1wilahgih6zvewK-ltJEcvTV8lkfuz48lXyFpUheVQY_YngBRRur3n3cmg/s400/newaa+084.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340857459857477186" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-91319913102327105332009-05-16T19:36:00.000-07:002009-05-16T20:20:02.275-07:00帆船祭りThe end of April (23-27) was marked by the Nagasaki Tall Ships festival, which was the 10th anniversary of the festival. The purpose of this festival is to celebrate when Nagasaki's port was re-opened for international trade. Most of the sailboats were from Japan, but there were ones that travelled from Korea and Russia as well. The festival was accompanied by food stands, rides on the ships, and an extensive fireworks show. After dark, the ships were all lit up like giant Christmas trees. Below is the 海王丸 (Kaiwomaru), which is used for sea training.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUR1Lk2zmXv2bblQR32b-iLtc-4ywooEDXpH2KjzOSRaO01av1PW38OdRC_V4eLX94Zrqdm7GsMdkhISOFN1AyRn5WPFuBf-mIcpZkX_S7a0bCNhGP9KxvLEPlepv1B0FI0trAlbioQA/s1600-h/newaa+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUR1Lk2zmXv2bblQR32b-iLtc-4ywooEDXpH2KjzOSRaO01av1PW38OdRC_V4eLX94Zrqdm7GsMdkhISOFN1AyRn5WPFuBf-mIcpZkX_S7a0bCNhGP9KxvLEPlepv1B0FI0trAlbioQA/s400/newaa+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336618549556884626" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-81080698457392907122009-04-21T06:18:00.000-07:002009-04-21T06:45:57.637-07:00A short postWell, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. The new students arrived on March 31st, and shortly thereafter we had the entrance ceremony. It was basically the same as I had reported last semester. Unlike last semester, we had 2 weeks of orientation, which essentially means that my between semester break was 2.5 months long. I studied a lot of kanji during that time, and I managed to test into a higher level Japanese class this semester. I want to point out that the semester schedules are structured a little bit different here. Instead of having one large break between spring and fall semesters, the breaks between winter-spring and spring-fall are roughly the same length.<br /><br />The classes I’m taking this semester are as follows: Japanese history (contemporary), seminar on Japanese film, Japanese fine arts, aikido/kendo, intermediate Japanese, independent study (doing another paper on metal), and I may be taking a class on Jpop that is taught in Japanese.<br />The fine arts class consists of calligraphy, flower arranging, kimono wearing/dance, and tea ceremony.<br /><br />This weekend is the sailboat festival, which I intend to go to and take lots of pictures of. However, there is a decent chance of rain for this weekend as well. Hopefully it doesn't put a damper on the festivities.<br /><br />My friend lives out at the far end of Togitsu, and it's quicker to walk through the countryside rather than go through town to get there. It's also more scenic:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmigTo6D4ord_La1di2T2LSPyX7-bHYoDiLIm2-2WDiXwo4r16G6i23DJeddY7QifC-w3te1btWG4rhXkVmbAQ82b3ELd-6Y93XmEene86pNh2laOH13jMsdX3Li7o7u-gxRqRGbDbQ/s1600-h/newaa+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmigTo6D4ord_La1di2T2LSPyX7-bHYoDiLIm2-2WDiXwo4r16G6i23DJeddY7QifC-w3te1btWG4rhXkVmbAQ82b3ELd-6Y93XmEene86pNh2laOH13jMsdX3Li7o7u-gxRqRGbDbQ/s400/newaa+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327138621166259074" border="0" /></a>The sakura in Nagasaki are gone at this point. I did take some more pictures, though:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2bTxUtI8jDQg-Xh2p1c6hWFxYxkquHiDcvO9oPplt9XuDFJ_OfjHTsWLWBkwziI73BuhUtxymHduPdfhT3trYB2BDDuSKWOLn_wAEbAACYUKiZce1IMpYxbQlkD7O1QVKlaxuxREoA/s1600-h/newaa+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2bTxUtI8jDQg-Xh2p1c6hWFxYxkquHiDcvO9oPplt9XuDFJ_OfjHTsWLWBkwziI73BuhUtxymHduPdfhT3trYB2BDDuSKWOLn_wAEbAACYUKiZce1IMpYxbQlkD7O1QVKlaxuxREoA/s400/newaa+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327139380250555186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2airN3I8oeGMzoaAEJiR6Sln8urq3R-gNS3WGcHhhY1t_5WqCBJQrXmfWuGHFVgKPdcRoMpWbsXIzfaBQrLUjG_bfUVZiSf9NsrVfnVusAhsn12mmCgRdSle17gmnu69GXc40Z6SR4A/s1600-h/newaa+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2airN3I8oeGMzoaAEJiR6Sln8urq3R-gNS3WGcHhhY1t_5WqCBJQrXmfWuGHFVgKPdcRoMpWbsXIzfaBQrLUjG_bfUVZiSf9NsrVfnVusAhsn12mmCgRdSle17gmnu69GXc40Z6SR4A/s400/newaa+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327139713727700130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURKoFTgm4ltsGkQZGQwanSDWsPXjchglH1EyEhQgfN4O4LHbtIOp8dZvZZqoRuFOq9I_l1pzi2CBXr_lOWa4yy94gZC4FDN2MvMMU4nNJEjWWpey5Yso6eIaLcYy4VVeG7R3rCG1Yyg/s1600-h/newaa+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURKoFTgm4ltsGkQZGQwanSDWsPXjchglH1EyEhQgfN4O4LHbtIOp8dZvZZqoRuFOq9I_l1pzi2CBXr_lOWa4yy94gZC4FDN2MvMMU4nNJEjWWpey5Yso6eIaLcYy4VVeG7R3rCG1Yyg/s400/newaa+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327139982681648658" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-40907791459231612972009-03-26T08:52:00.000-07:002009-03-26T09:45:45.732-07:00花見Well, it's currently flower viewing season in Nagasaki. Around every spring, the sakura flowers blossom over the course of a week or two, then fall. The blossoming begins in the South of Japan, and it moves progressively North. Therefore, it will be awhile before the sakura in Hokkaido begin to blossom. The dates for the start of and estimated end of the viewing season are given mainstream news coverage. People often have parties under the sakura, reserving the good spots rather early by laying out their blue tarp to mark their territory. There is a saying (花より団子<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji"><span lang="ja">) which implies "sweets over flowers" and alludes to the fact that sakura viewing parties are more about socialization (or getting royally smashed off sake and shochu) rather than enjoying the aesthetic qualities of the flowers.<br /><br />Today (I'm actually relatively quick with making a post again!) I went to a mountain-top park with about 15 people for hanami (flower viewing). It was a beautiful, but relatively chilly and windy day. I took a few pictures:<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FymQL26dj3Kg3fSRQd-zg6p-WEtamUhFvJgCCaZzCgUri6nIgO9qExMDet0w0VaxLybJ4BEMBda4Rb_vDkJ2MHiG1jy-JtHGjN4Y9DkM-Mu6rZuUEhRudKR0FT7oEXo1L4sT4d700A/s1600-h/hanami+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FymQL26dj3Kg3fSRQd-zg6p-WEtamUhFvJgCCaZzCgUri6nIgO9qExMDet0w0VaxLybJ4BEMBda4Rb_vDkJ2MHiG1jy-JtHGjN4Y9DkM-Mu6rZuUEhRudKR0FT7oEXo1L4sT4d700A/s400/hanami+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317531450006231506" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxaJqX_OI_0NX6Y_yeqGxzuE84eB4-o0YIL0HqFUNuWkplyOU9ggOeB2CByfhojyIqnJuVxit6QqMGXaJgJFTBoQOrST20X2G1oFaipZMoZxcMn_kKpVi4VS8-qyDSz7jmlHLOkbVLg/s1600-h/hanami+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxaJqX_OI_0NX6Y_yeqGxzuE84eB4-o0YIL0HqFUNuWkplyOU9ggOeB2CByfhojyIqnJuVxit6QqMGXaJgJFTBoQOrST20X2G1oFaipZMoZxcMn_kKpVi4VS8-qyDSz7jmlHLOkbVLg/s400/hanami+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317531755403927218" border="0" /></a>As can be seen below, there were food stands setup in rows throughout the park. I can't say it wasn't excessivly overpriced. There was takoyaki, crepes, okonomiyaki on a stick (can't remember the actual name), fried meat, and some other stuff. I bought something that my eyes assured me was an icecream cone. It wasn't. It was like tasteless shaved ice in a cone. My Japanese friend said it's a Nagasaki thing. It's made from lemon juice and somehow manages to have no sugar in it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YlVf4aS6LLnP07bwfXxmP-r_U9EYHuGUDQNQlcsSbeyIO7jxzEM6qjJVnjKgBsCI3I2LWC8bTO4vU_Zc05oPiszaZG7hq8NbFXx_37N-_7zU3zZ8rUowoijcx4l0l_P9ap07LguB8g/s1600-h/hanami+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YlVf4aS6LLnP07bwfXxmP-r_U9EYHuGUDQNQlcsSbeyIO7jxzEM6qjJVnjKgBsCI3I2LWC8bTO4vU_Zc05oPiszaZG7hq8NbFXx_37N-_7zU3zZ8rUowoijcx4l0l_P9ap07LguB8g/s400/hanami+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317532067286017762" border="0" /></a>Since we were on top of a mountain, we had a beautiful view of the city. Somewhat ironically, I wasn't able to evade the flowers in order to get a clear view of it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2Cuxdk889wH3VTnL_m-OFwcoIlGeGKQJygQYGh0-GjdYX-hurdnPXKIaAUIV3WrXBTWJHfsJn-OQ8avm5xKsfLWaEpkZpDgQdhA2oC3IeddWW8j6VnaK_YM0vxK4TggUPQVgykM9Iw/s1600-h/hanami+026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2Cuxdk889wH3VTnL_m-OFwcoIlGeGKQJygQYGh0-GjdYX-hurdnPXKIaAUIV3WrXBTWJHfsJn-OQ8avm5xKsfLWaEpkZpDgQdhA2oC3IeddWW8j6VnaK_YM0vxK4TggUPQVgykM9Iw/s400/hanami+026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317532731221608034" border="0" /></a><br />I would like to go back sometime and get pictures at night time. Those pink thingies are lanterns. That combined with the backdrop of the Nagasaki nightscape would be pretty, I think.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-41852510415227018152009-03-19T05:14:00.000-07:002009-03-19T06:04:34.279-07:00GraduationToday was the graduation ceremony for the students at the school I'm studying at. The ceremony was held at Canary Hall in Togitsu, not at the school. There are two schools within the institution, a four year one and a two year one. The guys were all dressed up in suits or traditional Japanese garb (don't know the name of the outfit), and the girls wore kimonos. The ceremony opened with the school song and a hymn, proceeded by a prayer. Following that, the graduating students were called by name, based on their school and major, and were then asked to stand. Students did not go up one by one to receive their degrees. From each major there was a representative, nominated by a teacher, who went up to the front and received congratulations from the president. After all the students were recognized, the president proceeded to give a lengthy speech. This was then followed by speeches from junior students to their seniors (senpai). The songs were sang again, and the ceremony was concluded.<br /><br />Here's a picture:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK_W2_JD2i7QOC4hFyOgJenKAPdXROsG_6CSZbx-kSsUTmt88UdIzpFmteUVHbWLRtctBJZINAbJiwVubhsi7w_zA189kKk8-QwMJDMFG6eGyDt76ELN5z4q3iEtzDh0g_Lcz_cqycA/s1600-h/grad+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK_W2_JD2i7QOC4hFyOgJenKAPdXROsG_6CSZbx-kSsUTmt88UdIzpFmteUVHbWLRtctBJZINAbJiwVubhsi7w_zA189kKk8-QwMJDMFG6eGyDt76ELN5z4q3iEtzDh0g_Lcz_cqycA/s400/grad+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314883674018843842" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-25706412147973780092009-03-13T02:11:00.000-07:002009-03-13T02:14:34.176-07:00BreakI haven’t posted in awhile. There’s not much going on here, really. I’m still on break through the end of the month. I basically just go to the library and study everyday, and then I go home…and study some more.<br /><br />In the absence of real content, I’ll throw out some random observations.<br /><br />First, it’s accepted and polite for people who are sick to wear surgical masks to prevent spreading their germs to others. This is entirely normal. You can buy ones in stores with designs on them too, although I’ve never seen anyone actually wear one like that.<br /><br />Second, it’s amazing to me that stores actually manage to sell magazines, books, and manga. Go into any of the aforementioned shops, even a 24hr grocery store at 3am, and you can find people standing at the magazine section reading to their heart’s content. It’s not unusual to find a wall of high schoolers jammed into the manga isles at used book stores during the day; they just stand there and read.<br /><br />Third, you can pay your bills at these little 24hr grocery stores that are everywhere. It’s extremely convenient. I pay my electric bill in this fashion, and I will with my internet bill, whenever they decide to send it to me. I just bring the bill with the cash, they rip off a stub, stamp it, and the end. These stores are essentially the equivalent of the stores that are attached to gas stations in the states, and gas stations here just act as gas stations. They also sell cheeseburgers and hot dogs, which don’t taste that great (but are cheap). The major chains are: Lawson’s, Family Mart, 7-11, am/pm, and I think I’m missing one.<br /><br />Fourth, one of the popular ways to advertise in Japan is through disposable tissues. Print off some sheets of paper with your business info, shove it into little plastic bags with some tissues, and hire people to stand on the street and hand them out. Instant success.<br /><br />Fifth, umbrellas. The masses here all own the same umbrella. It’s clear with a white pole. I very much doubt that most people who put their umbrella in the rack before entering a building leave with the same one. Big places, like shopping malls, don’t have umbrella racks. There’s a little trashcan/plastic bag dispenser unit at the entrance. You’re supposed to take one of the bags, put your umbrella in it, and then trash it on the way out. It’s often so windy here when it rains that umbrellas are pretty much useless. I managed to have 2 distort into pretzels on the same day. That was a fun day.<br /><br />Sixth, the word “Togitsu” is spelled wrong on all the manhole covers in Togitsu. It’s spelled Togitu. Whoops.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-37350089325482098092009-02-19T05:56:00.000-08:002009-02-19T06:24:26.547-08:00Apartment LivingWell I got myself an apartment, as I stated before. I'd say I got pretty lucky with my current living arrangement. To get an apartment in Japan is typically a rather expensive investment. The deposit is usually a few months rent; there is a fee to the landlord which amounts to about one month's rent, and a fee to the real estate company (if used) that also amounts to about one month's rent. I did not have to pay a deposit, and I did not go through a real-estate company. I knew the guy that lived there last semester, so I basically transitioned in when he moved out. It was quite convenient. I did have to pay a "cleaning fee" (aka key money) to the landlady that was about 1/2 a month's rent. You might hear horror stories of how expensive rent is in Japan, but in Nagasaki it's pretty reasonable. If you're a foreigner, you have to have a guarantor sign for you in order to get an apartment as well. There are agencies in Nagasaki setup to do this in the event a person can't find one. Last semester I lived with my host family in Togitsu town, but my current apartment is located in Nagasaki City. This means I had to go to city hall and change the information on my alien registration card and reapply for the Japanese national medical insurance. That was fun. Except not. I live a greater distance away from the school now, but I'm closer to Sumiyoshi (area of massive convenience). As for food, there is a 100 yen store like 4 minutes away, and a large grocery store just a few minutes further.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-82267994374807975332009-02-17T03:01:00.000-08:002009-02-17T03:35:44.805-08:00Chinese Lantern Festival and Valentine's DayValentine's Day is celebrated in Japan on the same day, but it is pretty much the inverse of the American version. In Japan, women buy chocolate for guys. There are essentially two types of chocolate, one that is given for romantic reasons, and "obligation" chocolate which is given to coworkers/bosses/etc. Chocolate given for romantic reasons is unsurprisingly more extravagant and expensive than obligation chocolate, and the holiday can end up being quite expensive. A month later is White Day, where guys return the gift of chocolate. Morinaga was trying to start a trend with Gyako-Choco (reverse chocolate), where guys buy chocolate for the girls on Valentine's Day.<br /><br />Last week marked the end of the Nagasaki lantern festival, which occurred the week prior. I went twice towards the end, once at night and once during the day. Various areas of the city were dressed up with lanterns, and around the central area there was a stage for performances and some displays. At night it was extremely packed. I think I saw more foreigners in that one night alone compared to the entire semester prior. I watched an Okinawan dance that took place on the stage, and the Kunchi performers did the dragon dance at Shianbashi. Some pics:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhziycQR8wpotmgj6ct718CSzMOpUHuGihL_rY04WJopsnaWnKNH6AJOe_A-gn6pmDh6vesHtKXeqF8xCLE_h1iN3IiK4PECySWXyWjZ3iJQejqznD63Ztlid9bH2HSub2X5xsEDubcuQ/s1600-h/lantern+052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhziycQR8wpotmgj6ct718CSzMOpUHuGihL_rY04WJopsnaWnKNH6AJOe_A-gn6pmDh6vesHtKXeqF8xCLE_h1iN3IiK4PECySWXyWjZ3iJQejqznD63Ztlid9bH2HSub2X5xsEDubcuQ/s400/lantern+052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303724763203081250" border="0" /></a>Lanterns in Shianbashi<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Fl8stcVvWUP0SDmdjWfiugoy-i0fwoWbkP7sZkILmjVrJE54rEwawZgMm_bGfiyjtwSDC09_OVa7ZUefUUAffY_dlVvcyYRDkDdAeclw-vTNdgk5YTA5bPi-33LavXIM8_bWNjE59w/s1600-h/lantern+043.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Fl8stcVvWUP0SDmdjWfiugoy-i0fwoWbkP7sZkILmjVrJE54rEwawZgMm_bGfiyjtwSDC09_OVa7ZUefUUAffY_dlVvcyYRDkDdAeclw-vTNdgk5YTA5bPi-33LavXIM8_bWNjE59w/s400/lantern+043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303725145673781890" border="0" /></a>This is an area where people were lighting incense and praying. Those are real piggies.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWpALZ5Lb-E8-OI0AoXj-LL09lYPqA5PY1rGBuHIR2_KWk668WJ1EtOxqOSIXczqrdyWEZrhPm9j85-SHLySB6LhafxTl1DmH9rV0Vqt_lZzPmM-shMZd2hy0Aflt_4lTBwzvlnzcuw/s1600-h/lantern+044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWpALZ5Lb-E8-OI0AoXj-LL09lYPqA5PY1rGBuHIR2_KWk668WJ1EtOxqOSIXczqrdyWEZrhPm9j85-SHLySB6LhafxTl1DmH9rV0Vqt_lZzPmM-shMZd2hy0Aflt_4lTBwzvlnzcuw/s400/lantern+044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303725683475324258" border="0" /></a>There were lots of figures such as these around the central/Shianbashi area.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOg9py_7LvNZyvpTMFvfhhw-rybOHO-EUQXwJR7amihNJDyNHbNVZmWp5426hkb5wRhWfESH8MAWBXczsgpHe-EyUILyZmKQiEFAo5btgGvyQHqB_NmEteIXA-uPLwDNCq25RZ1tyt7A/s1600-h/lantern+050.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOg9py_7LvNZyvpTMFvfhhw-rybOHO-EUQXwJR7amihNJDyNHbNVZmWp5426hkb5wRhWfESH8MAWBXczsgpHe-EyUILyZmKQiEFAo5btgGvyQHqB_NmEteIXA-uPLwDNCq25RZ1tyt7A/s400/lantern+050.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303726151389752002" border="0" /></a>Lots of people. And somebody's cellphone.<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrGA7oBAtitNp5usU7o6RgLCrcTGys8yoSMZaW93sRNIV_ZmkFJ-enR0OM4Jnk5zBE5zUQ3nsPQeI2WCa7IMgZ-oIe1r7X-dHTvQrQ1_YVfCjlqSC4Wjg-bfD6hsUUjrjKPBt-hge9g/s1600-h/lantern+049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrGA7oBAtitNp5usU7o6RgLCrcTGys8yoSMZaW93sRNIV_ZmkFJ-enR0OM4Jnk5zBE5zUQ3nsPQeI2WCa7IMgZ-oIe1r7X-dHTvQrQ1_YVfCjlqSC4Wjg-bfD6hsUUjrjKPBt-hge9g/s400/lantern+049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303726622463871906" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-51266237442676855672009-02-13T19:25:00.000-08:002009-02-13T19:29:30.335-08:00遅かったSorry for the huge delay, I’m still alive. The semester ended over a week ago, and this past week was the first week of spring break. I was expecting spring break to be filled with free time and boredom, but I’ve been far busier this past week than during the actual school year. I got to see many of my foreign friends off for the last time (only 5 or so of the 20 something JASIN students are staying in Japan for the next semester), and I moved into my own apartment. I also did some site seeing, attended a festival, and went to the Nagasaki and Togitsu city halls to take care of the paper work for my registration. I’ll post pictures and go into greater detail in subsequent posts.<br /><br />Anyway, since fall semester just ended last week, it can easily be seen that school semesters in Japan run on quite a different schedule from American ones. The semester began at the end of Sept. and ended the first week of Feb. The next semester begins at the end of March and ends the first day of August. This means that I essentially have a 2 month long break. The orientation period for next semester is, I think, 2 weeks, so it is actually a bit longer than that. It should also be noted that the school year in Japan begins in the spring, not in the fall, so there will be many new students coming in next semester. There will also be many students graduating in March, including a lot of my friends.<br /><br />There are a couple American students from an air force academy that arrived here a couple weeks ago due to a misunderstanding of the different semester schedules, so the school kind of threw together a few classes for them at the last minute. Since it’s break, I’m going to try to get in on these classes as well to continue my studies.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-64897648084967969872009-01-21T02:44:00.000-08:002009-01-21T03:57:10.784-08:00The Japanese Writing SystemThe general consensus among Japanese language students here is that Japanese is pretty simple in terms of grammar, but it has a complex writing system. Despite that, I can read/write Japanese way better than I can speak it. Maybe it’s because I study kanji. A lot. Regardless, I’m going to break down the writing system and explain it a little bit in case someone is interested.<br /><br />There are four symbol sets in Japanese: romaji, hiragana, katakana, and kanji. If you are capable of reading this, then you know romaji. Because Japan does business internationally, and not exactly everyone in the world knows Japanese, but many people can read Roman characters, businesses often write their names (and slogans) using romaji. Foreign businesses that setup shop in Japan also tend to retain their original spellings. Businesses in Japan also often use English for advertising, despite the fact that many people don’t know English. And in reality, the English used in advertising tends to not actually have any real meaning, which is where Engrish comes into play. Similar to the way that kanji are used in America as fashion statements, such as tattoos or whatnot, English has a “cool” factor in Japan. Seemingly random or nonsensical phrases are commonly adorned on shirts and stuff. One of the American students that studied here had a shirt with the kanji for “wind” on it, but the specific connotation of the kanji was “fart.” I’ll just say he didn’t wear that shirt again.<br /><br />The most basic and essential symbol set of Japanese is hiragana. I guess you could compare it to the alphabet, but it (mostly) represents syllables instead of individual letters.<br />There are 46 basic symbols, but there are actually more given that the basic symbols’ pronunciations are changed by slight alterations (i.e. ひ=hi, び=bi, ぴ=pi, ひゃ=hya, etc.) Since hiragana composes the basic syllabic sounds of Japanese, all kanji can be written in hiragana. This poses an interesting dilemma for students of Japanese, or at least me. To kill time and simultaneously study, I tend to translate stuff. I find it extremely frustrating that sometimes words are written in kanji, and sometimes they aren’t—even in the same source. Some words don’t have kanji, but hiragana typically marks the grammatical portions of a sentence (verb/adjective endings, particles, etc.). If a word has a kanji, I wish it would just be used all the time. If you aren’t familiar with a word, and you just see a big jumble of hiragana, it can be difficult to separate everything. Kanji may be more difficult to commit to memory, but it really is easier to read.<br /><br />Katakana is essentially the equivalent of hiragana, but for foreign words. Japanese borrows a lot of foreign words, Japanamizes the pronunciation, and then firmly integrates them into the language. Borrowed words have to be modified to fit into Japan’s syllable system. For example, Christmas becomes Kurisumasu. These words are then represented with katakana instead of hiragana. Because some foreign sounds don’t easily fit into Japanese syllables, there are some extra katakana modifications that make this symbol set larger than hiragana, such as for the letter ‘v.’ I think katakana is the mortal enemy of Japanese students. A lot of students really like it because the words are basically just cognates (assuming they are derived from English, some katakana words come from Portuguese or Dutch, due to Japan’s long trading history, or German, French, etc.). However, a lot of katakana words already have Japanese equivalents, so I feel that studying katakana is kind of the bane of making real progress with the language. This is strongly noticeable on product labels. For example: milk is often miruku, not gyunyu; apple is often apuru, not ringo; and fruit is often furutsu, not kudamono. It’s a rule in Japanese that Japanese words are written in hiragana only, and foreign words in katakana only (except in kanji dictionaries, where one indicates the Chinese reading, and the other indicates the Japanese reading). But to further emphasize how inconsistent the language really is, I see Japanese words in katakana and vice versa on signs and stuff all the time.<br /><br />Kanji is probably the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Japanese. Kanji are the complicated ideograms borrowed from China. There are a lot of exceptions when talking about kanji, but generally, there are at least two pronunciations for each—a Chinese one and a Japanese one. Some kanji can be pronounced many different ways. Kanji may have different readings if: they are alone, they are in a word, they are used as a suffix, they are a prefix, they are a different part of speech, etc. Maybe because I’m a visual learner, I don’t find kanji to be all that difficult. Kanji are composed of different radicals (there are 214 of them). Once you learn the radicals, you stop seeing kanji as a group of complex strokes, and you start to see them as a pairing of different radicals. If the meaning of the kanji isn’t totally abstract, the radicals may indicate somewhat the meaning of the kanji. One interesting issue I have come across with studying kanji is that sometimes I can read a sentence and comprehend it, but not be able to read it aloud. I’ll know the proper meanings, but I’ll forget the reading.<br /><br />One way Japanese literacy is determined is through knowledge of the Joyo kanji. The list is updated periodically, but there are currently 1945 kanji in it. The Joyo kanji are basically the “official” kanji that are used in media sources, etc. Other kanji (or different readings) may be used as well, but they are accompanied by furigana (small hiragana above the kanji to show its pronunciation). On top of learning the symbols, the Joyo kanji list consists of the various readings that need to be learned as well. 生, for example, has twelve different readings. Most Japanese words are constructed from combinations of kanji, so memorizing all the symbols and their readings isn’t going to result in the ability to understand a newspaper article.<br /><br />A list of the Joyo kanji can be found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_j%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji">here</a>.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-73043803431883853902009-01-21T02:22:00.000-08:002009-01-21T02:39:36.943-08:00ObamaPresident Obama seems to be quite the celebrity in Japan. There are numerous towns in Japan which are called Obama, and they seem to be doing their best to capitalize off this similarity. Obama-cho, which is nearby, and I think is the location of Unzen, has been doing President Obama themed omiage (souvenirs) and special champon (a noodle dish) that adds potatoes to the formula. It is not uncommon at all to find shirts, cups, etc. with Obama's face on it in mall shops. Obama impersonaters are also very popular on Japanese variety TV shows. Finally, there was a ceremony today for the students that are leaving for home in February. Our school's president gave a speech and talked about Obama for a little bit. It was complete with an English "Yes we can!"Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-20897236995652947552009-01-15T22:40:00.000-08:002009-01-15T22:51:26.812-08:00Snow and fishIt's snowed a few times in Nagasaki this winter, but never enough to stick except for this one time last week:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3RL4EfMdLrGS_hTbBLD7E6dmyJ8oMshgxBchKFvhN8b9j8sv0R8zZuaTW7nMoqzMh9OdSVzz_1OIw_ltgacVdHIpu78M7FM3HjdBog4DiI5XOjnaSN2KRrpggWG1-rpFLR13IWBNKA/s1600-h/newer1+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3RL4EfMdLrGS_hTbBLD7E6dmyJ8oMshgxBchKFvhN8b9j8sv0R8zZuaTW7nMoqzMh9OdSVzz_1OIw_ltgacVdHIpu78M7FM3HjdBog4DiI5XOjnaSN2KRrpggWG1-rpFLR13IWBNKA/s400/newer1+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291779007080601826" border="0" /></a>This is completely unrelated, but here's a Japanese snack mix that includes dried fish:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRejlbgyIcfDIPGzoqoyYh3nDWAqxzjNvLs3dlgVwDHSpGIO-5P6AEeT0Wrxujt7f0EWDIxmn31-FssW_2hXkkPEO-vrajWpXdd6jVw9EwQOrouH1QqjKF86ZMmfRgw2NpOdrE6irjg/s1600-h/newer1+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRejlbgyIcfDIPGzoqoyYh3nDWAqxzjNvLs3dlgVwDHSpGIO-5P6AEeT0Wrxujt7f0EWDIxmn31-FssW_2hXkkPEO-vrajWpXdd6jVw9EwQOrouH1QqjKF86ZMmfRgw2NpOdrE6irjg/s400/newer1+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291779555706020290" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-73605262612498783412009-01-06T20:46:00.000-08:002009-01-06T21:57:47.169-08:00New Year'sWell last week was an interesting week. It was New Years, obviously, which is one of the major holidays in Japan. My host brother got the whole week off from work, which meant limited internet access for me since the only connection is in his room. The week began with extensive cleaning of the house. Then on Tuesday, Chris' Pizza, the only place in Nagasaki to get some real American food, was having it's last ever day open (RIP). I opted to go to my French buddy's birthday party instead, though. Got to try goose liver sausage. We then went to a nearby bar and sat on the tatami floor and hung out for awhile. Some of the people there were glued to the TV, watching the annual New Year's singing competition. I had a nice big bowl of kimchi rice, which is a Korean dish. Shortly after midnight, the bar owner/chef treated us to a free bowl of soba noodles, which is traditionally eaten on New Year's. We then went to another bar for awhile, and then went karaoke for three hours. I topped that off with an early breakfast from a 24 hour McDonald's, and I made it home and in bed by 8am. It was a blast.<br /><br />The day after New Year's, my host mother's daughter came by and helped her make a very elaborate dinner. The rest of her kids, their spouses, and their kids came by for dinner. My host mother's daughter's husband plays drums in a band composed of people from his workplace. They like to play Deep Purple and Red Hot Chili Peppers :) My host family went to the shrine in the afternoon, and the onsen late in the evening. Many Japanese go to the shrine shortly after midnight on New Year's morning to offer their prayers for the new year and receive a fortune, followed by a period of heavily enebriated karaoke. The fact that my friends and I got into karaoke at that time is notable.<br /><br />The week ended with me virtually rewriting my entire 20 page independent study paper on Japanese metal because I wasn't satisfied with how it turned out. I finally finished it yesterday, so now I can start on my 10 page society research paper which is due in a couple weeks. My soc. paper will be on <span style="font-style: italic;">ijime</span>, which is "bullying."Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-43228384022575973882008-12-30T23:22:00.000-08:002008-12-30T23:34:33.170-08:00クリスマスSo…do the Japanese celebrate Christmas? I suppose so. To say “the Japanese celebrate Christmas” is a bit of an overgeneralization. Plus, the Japanese conception of Christmas is a bit different than the American one. First, only 2% or something of the Japanese population is Christian, so it isn’t exactly a religious holiday here. Christmas is, pure and simple, a commercial holiday. I was surprised when I first walked into a store and heard Christmas music being played, but it ended up being an inescapable constant just as at home. George Michael's "Last Christmas" seems to be *the* Christmas song to play over and over and over again. Stores had Christmas sections and Christmas sales just as at home. There were a few houses nearby that put up Christmas lights and stuff. The girl’s dormitory for my university had lights up as well. Nagasaki station, which is a large shopping center, had a big Christmas tree with pink lights setup outside.<br /><br />Japan differs in that Christmas isn’t celebrated on Christmas day, but on Christmas Eve. Presents, if to be given at all, are given the night before. All the Christmas décor and ornaments and stuff in stores are cleared out by Christmas morning (in preparation for New Year’s). One particular Christmas tradition that is uniquely Japanese is eating KFC for the Christmas meal. Apparently KFC was pretty unpopular until some person decided to dress up the Colonel Sanders statue that is in front of most KFC restaurants in a Santa costume. It brought in customers...and now you have to reserve your Christmas day chicken well in advance.<br /><br />My Christmas was pretty uneventful, although Christmas Eve was a total blast.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-78989765054223037772008-12-21T04:55:00.000-08:002008-12-21T05:00:36.340-08:00Nintendo DSI bought a Nintendo DS awhile ago. This is, hands down, one of the most versatile tools for a student of Japanese. I was initially going to buy an electronic dictionary, but the DS was a superior alternative. The DS is like most game systems, where only a tiny fraction of the available software gets released in the States. However, in Japan, there is an extensive library of kanji-centered learning/study software. There is software for everything from simple quiz programs, to software for practicing brush strokes/order, to dictionaries, to software specifically setup for practicing for the dreaded Kanken exam. Electronic kanji dictionaries in Japan start at about $80, and ones with a touchpad/stylus like the DS start at about 3x that cost. The DS itself is a little more expensive here, but a used DS Lite plus kanji software would run about $100. Compared to the actual dictionary, this is way cheaper, plus it can do stuff dictionaries can’t—like play games. The only downside to the DS as a dictionary is that it doesn’t have an actual keyboard, but that’s quite minor since after about 40 minutes of practice, the stylus can be used just as quickly. There is similar software for Chinese and Korean, although not as much.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-91244844296639833772008-12-17T04:32:00.000-08:002008-12-17T06:12:44.027-08:00Peace UniversityThis past weekend I attended the 6th annual Nagasaki Peace University. This was a tour, lecture, and discussion put on by (I think) the Nagasaki Peace Foundation. It was open to the public, but most people there were students, jets, or professors. It began with a tour of the Atomic Bomb Museum, that was sadly cut short due to our bus leaving late. I'll have to go back sometime because I didn't get to see everything. They had a replica of the bomb, which is larger than I expected. They also had many artifacts recovered from the destruction, such as: a tower with its metal beams completely contorted, walls with shadows burnt into them, roofing tiles that formed blisters, and different objects with human bone melted into it.<br /><br />We then shuffled into a big hall where we were divided into sections of English and Japanese speakers. A survivor of the bombing, Nagano-san, told us her story, which was translated into English by an interpreter. She lost her two siblings; her brother died the day after the blast from burns, and her sister died shortly thereafter from radiation sickness. They were very young. Her mother suffered from radiation sickness as well, but recovered and lived a long life. She expressed deep regret at requesting her siblings to come back and live with the family a few months before the bombing. What I think was most personal for me about her lecture is that I am familiar with, and frequent, the places she was vividly describing as only 60 or so years ago being covered with rubble and corpses.<br /><br />After her lecture, there was a panel/discussion for a number of different topics. Most of the NICS students from my school attended the program. They are mostly from China, and a couple of them, during the discussion, made comparisons between the atomic bombing and the Rape of Nanjing. I'm not sure how the Chinese students phrased it in Japanese, but the interpreters translated it as the "Nanjing Event."<br /><br />After the discussion, there was a guided tour of the Peace Park and the Hypocenter Park. Our guide pointed out the stark difference in atmosphere between the two parks. The Peace Park is more positive, and is often used for promotional, PR, and political stuff. By contrast, the Hypocenter is very solemn and quiet. Other than the obelisk and statue of Mary, it is quite empty. It is also, I hear, a place for high school couples to go at night.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-5795830182780234762008-12-07T22:55:00.000-08:002008-12-07T23:03:42.540-08:00A few practical notes on living in JapanFirst, it is considerably more expensive to send stuff overseas to America than it is the other way around. It doesn’t help that sea mail is no longer supported.<br /><br />Second, “Everywhere Visa is accepted” is the exception, rather than the rule, at least in Nagasaki. Typically only major stores and chains accept foreign credit cards. Most people use cash for everything.<br /><br />Third, if you’re studying abroad in Japan and you want to buy something off the internet, keep in mind the fact that Paypal does not allow a person to have a billing address in one country and a shipping address in another. This restriction applies when websites use Paypal simply for security reasons as well, so you don’t actually have to have an account to be shafted by this.<br /><br />Fourth, identity theft happens. One of the other students here had her identity stolen a few weeks after arriving, and had a good sum charged on her card. She has since recovered the money. I have no idea as to the frequency of this, but it happened.<br /><br />Fifth, it’s a pain in the rear to send money to/from Japan. If you can get the money in your bank account at home somehow, pulling it from an ATM is easy. Of course, there is typically some sort of bank fee plus a currency conversion fee. I’ve never withdrawn money from an ATM here; the fee was $5 per transaction in Canada. Wiring money is another option. It is quick, but it is also expensive (about $50). You have to have a Japanese bank account as well. It takes a little bit longer, but the easiest way to send money out of Japan would be with an international money order. However, they are expensive if you have to send a large amount of funds. They cost $20 each, with a limit of $700 per day. There is no fee on the receiving end, and they can be cashed at any U.S. post office. They can be denominated in foreign currency as well. Of course, this would also be a viable option for receiving money in Japan.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-46797127294343112542008-12-07T22:48:00.000-08:002008-12-07T22:55:01.750-08:00Japanese Bathroom Tech.Sorry for being extremely late with my post on Japanese toilets.<br /><br />First, here’s a pic from Wikipedia:<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Modern_japanese_toilet.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Modern_japanese_toilet.jpg</a><br /><br />This is almost identical to the one in my house, except the one in my house has no English on it. I think the picture is pretty self-explanatory. As Japanese houses don’t have central heating, in the winter time, heated seats are quite welcome. Our toilet also has a sink built into the top of the back which saves water. It filters the water through for the next flush. Every Western style toilet I have come across in Japan has two flush levels, big and small. Some public restrooms have toilets with such features as well. Otherwise, they are normative for houses, hotels, etc.<br /><br />Shower/bath rooms in Japan have electrically controlled water. There’s a little box on the wall that lets you set the exact temperature you want the water for your shower/bath (the nozzles do not affect temperature in any way). My host mother has ours set to a comfortable 42 degrees Celsius. If taking a bath, you can have it fill up the bath and stop at the appropriate point automatically.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-54489650547408145682008-12-01T00:43:00.001-08:002008-12-01T00:49:42.131-08:00Kumamoto pt. II<div style="text-align: center;">Here are some pictures of Kumamoto castle and the city.<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvn3fvgJncWi_o28NQjQyYREHaKIz3YKsp2_G6-JuTn_01zUXyykuv3wkBeMK9wvxQip6Zq0sVTw34H2-32Flxaip_R-Oe46pcf__kNcJlK8Zvli5YbHN1JmktwU7LqGYlf8ld_LRTPg/s1600-h/kumamoto+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvn3fvgJncWi_o28NQjQyYREHaKIz3YKsp2_G6-JuTn_01zUXyykuv3wkBeMK9wvxQip6Zq0sVTw34H2-32Flxaip_R-Oe46pcf__kNcJlK8Zvli5YbHN1JmktwU7LqGYlf8ld_LRTPg/s400/kumamoto+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274739798722210834" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQo4aEdMIX-7ryIWzSkIv4N9KwAxMX-mxqRCkkQDZuT7D3nvbdNB7v7DmtYR634qJhx6vjdhWvqKUyb2soEI0grWff3jvYFe7IR-819Q7ZRpoZ4J259zg6ICc0sKi6LUVwID7kgYN09Q/s1600-h/kumamoto+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQo4aEdMIX-7ryIWzSkIv4N9KwAxMX-mxqRCkkQDZuT7D3nvbdNB7v7DmtYR634qJhx6vjdhWvqKUyb2soEI0grWff3jvYFe7IR-819Q7ZRpoZ4J259zg6ICc0sKi6LUVwID7kgYN09Q/s400/kumamoto+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274739961727142930" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiYY4JImKszQ1e25mE136pR_ECrmLc65o0ENMNKb7AMhQgcEbsjt0Np_jj-vkcu1ZrZNnQlw-N046E_EK1oSywOLOtBnuKuwpZMgfj0-7uVpGHtdlg6WxirQXcf4PCJNZu6fncsG5Gg/s1600-h/kumamoto+013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHiYY4JImKszQ1e25mE136pR_ECrmLc65o0ENMNKb7AMhQgcEbsjt0Np_jj-vkcu1ZrZNnQlw-N046E_EK1oSywOLOtBnuKuwpZMgfj0-7uVpGHtdlg6WxirQXcf4PCJNZu6fncsG5Gg/s400/kumamoto+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274740097189063570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzs2p82EV0APR3WTiIA3g1CKR3Io4x9HbFiFTLEq91-FieqE8ir2HuhX9k5aUgCpvhqPnFP-6Q03Gzwi4i27HmYzTYB-VsM4qb-8sigOVXVjfCw3bF9GYlvEDIuYcaLeCUhz07n9u4CQ/s1600-h/kumamoto+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzs2p82EV0APR3WTiIA3g1CKR3Io4x9HbFiFTLEq91-FieqE8ir2HuhX9k5aUgCpvhqPnFP-6Q03Gzwi4i27HmYzTYB-VsM4qb-8sigOVXVjfCw3bF9GYlvEDIuYcaLeCUhz07n9u4CQ/s400/kumamoto+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274740197717308626" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN70zQEsNQeucfH7fZ70pn7QD3r8paM_KOy0DR4XygKXWqwTLQbl4beMtJfd-XGPf6sVuqcacnu8KEqG5_5BeQQ-5UZMiJeUmZK3i9S_ZCcb-eN8zn46_7Uhwu5b8r9jpEUW_Qbsf6FQ/s1600-h/kumamoto+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN70zQEsNQeucfH7fZ70pn7QD3r8paM_KOy0DR4XygKXWqwTLQbl4beMtJfd-XGPf6sVuqcacnu8KEqG5_5BeQQ-5UZMiJeUmZK3i9S_ZCcb-eN8zn46_7Uhwu5b8r9jpEUW_Qbsf6FQ/s400/kumamoto+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274740479705745122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8YMQzbiRap3fpFPuOxrwzhfwJT2Xj6XsvUDSw5kOgCssK-5rDs0AQmSo-oJMkNB8wEn67FiQHiUgtAfj3Se5Sd0XvlEN1Sx_qHQKhqk5bQaOnAztoEGYpBhq5ERSux935YqL4Ha9Tw/s1600-h/kumamoto+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8YMQzbiRap3fpFPuOxrwzhfwJT2Xj6XsvUDSw5kOgCssK-5rDs0AQmSo-oJMkNB8wEn67FiQHiUgtAfj3Se5Sd0XvlEN1Sx_qHQKhqk5bQaOnAztoEGYpBhq5ERSux935YqL4Ha9Tw/s400/kumamoto+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274740799374813762" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-20548751299328332752008-12-01T00:14:00.000-08:002008-12-01T00:43:05.792-08:00Kumamoto pt. II went to Kumamoto this past weekend for a fieldtrip. We first went to Suizenji park, and then Kumamoto castle. In between we were served a traditional Japanese meal. It consisted of both cooked and raw fish, tempura, rice, super delicious shiitake mushroom soup, radish with wasabi, some kind of brown pudding-ish stuff, a sweet bean paste w/ some green stuff, a vegetable dish (with squash, lotus root, and green beans), some crusty brown stuff (sorry, I don't know what a lot of this is), and lotus root with wasabi stuffed in the holes. My buddy described the last one in that list as a "war in [his] mouth." I'm inclined to agree. Raw horse meat is a popular delicacy in Kumamoto.<br /><br />Anyway, pictures...<br /><br />1st, Suizenji park:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hdyuCVYdGPv_-Othotp_pegwIlcA_5u8x5Bsy5VEGCW0d3jJgJcwDP6hmJY2QAh0cr2FgiV26iOxJw_oQTokDQMuqQJSLVWzLMvRgQlyv3x5UkLBqKRtDecR-DQF7e9lvn5Mysj8Qg/s1600-h/kumamoto+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hdyuCVYdGPv_-Othotp_pegwIlcA_5u8x5Bsy5VEGCW0d3jJgJcwDP6hmJY2QAh0cr2FgiV26iOxJw_oQTokDQMuqQJSLVWzLMvRgQlyv3x5UkLBqKRtDecR-DQF7e9lvn5Mysj8Qg/s400/kumamoto+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274738510410476498" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZQFphtlzDDS06ADe20zMl_gnXlqf-Tu_V8Fqlcy47EFhHRbEr53vvCXyA-XoEOfZESKGjGcDJtZJ_i5OQ0PD7csVIlZq8SACpMKtRfkMt3Y5mhdJQJmnyXFlAQMH7eKXmR_dO_WkGQ/s1600-h/kumamoto+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZQFphtlzDDS06ADe20zMl_gnXlqf-Tu_V8Fqlcy47EFhHRbEr53vvCXyA-XoEOfZESKGjGcDJtZJ_i5OQ0PD7csVIlZq8SACpMKtRfkMt3Y5mhdJQJmnyXFlAQMH7eKXmR_dO_WkGQ/s400/kumamoto+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274738413874590818" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaOks53GH9W4Im9L36dSqg2g-sPYs88Q4g94HrWJueacojDluMJnwxN2CExMiQDSAwBYWt6fFkdboXLUNLqsfSAwLYrJ7ql4xhZUnHWykykCToMicjKJpUz4XGkU2q-7mOKXs6zSXNQ/s1600-h/kumamoto+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaOks53GH9W4Im9L36dSqg2g-sPYs88Q4g94HrWJueacojDluMJnwxN2CExMiQDSAwBYWt6fFkdboXLUNLqsfSAwLYrJ7ql4xhZUnHWykykCToMicjKJpUz4XGkU2q-7mOKXs6zSXNQ/s400/kumamoto+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274738310431083650" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4ex0-RnWpMtXGb16twrENdYlobJMeqepV2gQ8_7ludPasAQzgjT3SIgOVsHJqUni1hdXIzLv0ik_I9khijzGOdrYnhiP0PEp7dFd4SW7kIvi5qC0baGiGxnnY4Bo9gweOCqPNBaEUA/s1600-h/kumamoto+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4ex0-RnWpMtXGb16twrENdYlobJMeqepV2gQ8_7ludPasAQzgjT3SIgOVsHJqUni1hdXIzLv0ik_I9khijzGOdrYnhiP0PEp7dFd4SW7kIvi5qC0baGiGxnnY4Bo9gweOCqPNBaEUA/s400/kumamoto+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274738068475334962" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-28696369364362829372008-11-25T02:02:00.000-08:002008-11-25T03:09:17.710-08:00Some seemingly unrelated topics...Japanese license plates have a hiragana ideogram on the left and then 4 spots for digits on the right. My host brother says license plates with repeated digits or only one digit are indicators that the owner of the car is a yakuza. Every car I've seen that matches this description has been a large luxury sedan with darkly tinted windows. I'm not sure how accurate the yakuza theory is, but it's interesting at least.<br /><br />I'm doing an independent study project on the Japanese metal (music) scene. It seems there is a big gaping void for scholarly sources on this topic, which is making things rather difficult. If anyone has any ideas for sources, I'd be thankful for the input. My small college here in Japan does not subscribe to any online databases, and I cannot access those of my home institution since I am not registered for classes there (which is irritating...).<br /><br />Some Nagasaki related news: <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008425685_worldweek23.html">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008425685_worldweek23.html</a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-74437546280737021572008-11-20T02:41:00.000-08:002008-11-20T02:49:38.167-08:00Nagasaki Peace Park pt.IIVarious countries have donated monuments to the Nagasaki Peace Park in promotion of peace. I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here are a few:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiozy-CcZWTXye0qS5qmG_Xd1Kzx3RNXQA6GunagCu3m3rUGFs2K-dcX15BgcmpdG4uTEdjC3tVqp8NdHSa5OdBe2JusvtQT8a1jTtnGbaBxZrYX_NUakCKD70nhSrKd-xV8I282I7WWw/s1600-h/abomb+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiozy-CcZWTXye0qS5qmG_Xd1Kzx3RNXQA6GunagCu3m3rUGFs2K-dcX15BgcmpdG4uTEdjC3tVqp8NdHSa5OdBe2JusvtQT8a1jTtnGbaBxZrYX_NUakCKD70nhSrKd-xV8I282I7WWw/s400/abomb+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270688826170711042" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGjpUCO-xi6DAm6T5WbRgv8tmS55FMGUAidreotz6cvUb4QpvgJOutz3BAnSQvEEZ27JK-_7YM_VlyEbsYhVwm2T18QtV4Dhp68wg1JTodRmw3wG_G_9IsCBV3pQM6f-HcPMruUvwNw/s1600-h/abomb+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGjpUCO-xi6DAm6T5WbRgv8tmS55FMGUAidreotz6cvUb4QpvgJOutz3BAnSQvEEZ27JK-_7YM_VlyEbsYhVwm2T18QtV4Dhp68wg1JTodRmw3wG_G_9IsCBV3pQM6f-HcPMruUvwNw/s400/abomb+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270689047162877186" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJq79RfqdMsbprl-eyfWFNNHarwLWllw0V1HEDiRwB2R-UHic7IF4zcfyiiNZkbCbVafitM9wsGkOHXHW-WFJ9IxXGVvNw0lMg1dzYIZpeHzqd8kvVbk0Oh7vfP_viMcmL65HLBcC1fQ/s1600-h/abomb+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJq79RfqdMsbprl-eyfWFNNHarwLWllw0V1HEDiRwB2R-UHic7IF4zcfyiiNZkbCbVafitM9wsGkOHXHW-WFJ9IxXGVvNw0lMg1dzYIZpeHzqd8kvVbk0Oh7vfP_viMcmL65HLBcC1fQ/s400/abomb+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270689168204655106" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFWWXi8e_JBueqm3wXZWW7AgGGljZpZ8eXtq1JOEpESCLZkKEOz6_lihUSroXdyX7YO_9tuzyLsaYu6sxTx2w_cgDzi8Yaa_ASgzfl4KnAl_XBXg50w_V-SP3AhTTXcojyE7c3Akv9w/s1600-h/abomb+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFWWXi8e_JBueqm3wXZWW7AgGGljZpZ8eXtq1JOEpESCLZkKEOz6_lihUSroXdyX7YO_9tuzyLsaYu6sxTx2w_cgDzi8Yaa_ASgzfl4KnAl_XBXg50w_V-SP3AhTTXcojyE7c3Akv9w/s400/abomb+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270689354988497442" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1HZ6EqhM50O-lPCx5nQIZ5u1o-c3_kYtACZ6UCJvARn5oJAWBKF7SjPO2y6WJrh1Qhknhy7l42TolQ9lIWFv4ZizOXIt1f-u8cFZkWmzpoVd5uQFWvrPA6NauXRYuzapojJdaMg8Hg/s1600-h/abomb+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1HZ6EqhM50O-lPCx5nQIZ5u1o-c3_kYtACZ6UCJvARn5oJAWBKF7SjPO2y6WJrh1Qhknhy7l42TolQ9lIWFv4ZizOXIt1f-u8cFZkWmzpoVd5uQFWvrPA6NauXRYuzapojJdaMg8Hg/s400/abomb+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270689547855463394" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoEbOHt9FgrtLORmzeTiHCUHIrSwSQcJoyKi5Jp0QvHXpxfhve5eaVLYQ6N4WK35PfHIFPoX1TZ_U2TP2jIe9lw-2p0U0URGG-z7uVbZtnQcNuaILt67JnGeqivyJ1PMBc2jV74841cQ/s1600-h/abomb+023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoEbOHt9FgrtLORmzeTiHCUHIrSwSQcJoyKi5Jp0QvHXpxfhve5eaVLYQ6N4WK35PfHIFPoX1TZ_U2TP2jIe9lw-2p0U0URGG-z7uVbZtnQcNuaILt67JnGeqivyJ1PMBc2jV74841cQ/s400/abomb+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270689701430659426" border="0" /></a>Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-32578227148705964372008-11-20T02:21:00.000-08:002008-11-20T02:41:08.360-08:00Nagasaki Peace Park pt. IThis past weekend I went to the Nagasaki Peace Park with my homestay family. It was a rainy day, but I took quite a few pictures. I never know in advance when we will go to places of photographic interest, and I by chance had my camera on me this time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQyPm8VLhqbSmVZkEpiQaMvMMMRGEgYlpyqBYrE8zDAt9m_qU90a3mTOj0WC1zyszWu4Ap_Cwx35C7-saCaBDhJyH7kRz7DO-BKjXc1SMaWtRQGKaXII-M59KMg7sQOsjrBqKt4Cxfg/s1600-h/abomb+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQyPm8VLhqbSmVZkEpiQaMvMMMRGEgYlpyqBYrE8zDAt9m_qU90a3mTOj0WC1zyszWu4Ap_Cwx35C7-saCaBDhJyH7kRz7DO-BKjXc1SMaWtRQGKaXII-M59KMg7sQOsjrBqKt4Cxfg/s400/abomb+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270684025405260722" border="0" /></a>This is the big Peace Statue. The left arm signifies peace and the right warns of the threat of nuclear weaponry.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ovBRVki38hB01bR12CWiRceObiJmDAfzjoGV-wkQwTBOgk3cVHBhgur3jo8YGWQXB1gOLn1RJavbTW8AjjYmoDl1c9IhgX-9s-aAkYLV2c2qVIkWpw-aCyDGGqo1ogpYjlJJfMbCog/s1600-h/abomb+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ovBRVki38hB01bR12CWiRceObiJmDAfzjoGV-wkQwTBOgk3cVHBhgur3jo8YGWQXB1gOLn1RJavbTW8AjjYmoDl1c9IhgX-9s-aAkYLV2c2qVIkWpw-aCyDGGqo1ogpYjlJJfMbCog/s400/abomb+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270684804478968722" border="0" /></a>The statue as seen through the Fountain of Peace. Nagasaki's water supply was contaminated by the radiation from the atomic bomb that was dropped here, and many perished in search of clean water. This fountain is a memorial to those who died.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbttsWyFlS-cozgANpEY0iwDsS6-8i83m3oTHkIYtSKWjnLmzSz4PpL4RPqy_diXEMn536lDV1PXDIOYrjlghEE_ILoo_e-VRI7xI8cUUAKgZTMWnE0Ho7BRFzkfsCLcvWrjLg1PwyA/s1600-h/abomb+019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbttsWyFlS-cozgANpEY0iwDsS6-8i83m3oTHkIYtSKWjnLmzSz4PpL4RPqy_diXEMn536lDV1PXDIOYrjlghEE_ILoo_e-VRI7xI8cUUAKgZTMWnE0Ho7BRFzkfsCLcvWrjLg1PwyA/s400/abomb+019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270685851020019682" border="0" /></a>This is a statue marking the date and time of the atomic bomb blast.<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9NvEWav2xjNzVeo_lajbBGquQ5SWq79-cJLze0vI8qdqzjrzZ5eqpGmdR6ivovxb0QR1AUKxwGim3u4MqoXchuhyfbsy7njiAThfFKLisBQOiD9goqnYMM_OZjS0ud5FmlS6w83htuw/s1600-h/abomb+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9NvEWav2xjNzVeo_lajbBGquQ5SWq79-cJLze0vI8qdqzjrzZ5eqpGmdR6ivovxb0QR1AUKxwGim3u4MqoXchuhyfbsy7njiAThfFKLisBQOiD9goqnYMM_OZjS0ud5FmlS6w83htuw/s400/abomb+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270686155850456994" border="0" /></a>This black monolith marks the location where the atomic bomb exploded. The black box at the front contains the names of all those who perished in the attack. This includes members of my host family.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03Pc4NvinPL3RvTgH5JVQ9f4y1AgSxnGzAOfaRt2FMufHtCp325EgYoITxVLK0IVThHN-Q7s39tjyHfebVzuJzG-DbES03zLWs9AcihAHShLpQPI_vRiBI-XRQrQ8PiAYGrpoSJeyaA/s1600-h/abomb+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03Pc4NvinPL3RvTgH5JVQ9f4y1AgSxnGzAOfaRt2FMufHtCp325EgYoITxVLK0IVThHN-Q7s39tjyHfebVzuJzG-DbES03zLWs9AcihAHShLpQPI_vRiBI-XRQrQ8PiAYGrpoSJeyaA/s400/abomb+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270687092008528770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIU78HYgqXLDnpjQ1xGbggYkLkkyt5xt9azqRYJ2qlg9EoZip5tko6H-487EGfKZpHP_HvW1Tx2xYgXlIyq2YiOJF2qx3QhbpDrGlWO86o5QF2brxvgp5Nu9Qp9A3jK9bJP9ljoA5nLg/s1600-h/abomb+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIU78HYgqXLDnpjQ1xGbggYkLkkyt5xt9azqRYJ2qlg9EoZip5tko6H-487EGfKZpHP_HvW1Tx2xYgXlIyq2YiOJF2qx3QhbpDrGlWO86o5QF2brxvgp5Nu9Qp9A3jK9bJP9ljoA5nLg/s400/abomb+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270687262723904690" border="0" /></a>The above two pictures are of the remnants of a church that remained standing after the bomb exploded.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12886358651780481.post-71686969251000186582008-11-12T18:04:00.000-08:002008-11-12T18:18:00.446-08:00Cell phones and colorsI bought my cell phone awhile ago, but I thought I should tell a little about what cell phones are like here. There are three major companies that offer cell phone service: Soft Bank (which is what I have), Docomo, and AU. In order to get a cell phone in Japan, even a prepaid one, you have to have some sort of resident identification (in my case, my alien registration card or approved application). A visa or passport is not sufficient enough. In Japan, there is no texting. All “texts” are done via email. I got a Yahoo! Japan and Softbank email address with my phone that I can use to email any address, and I can check my email through any computer with internet. I never had a cell phone in the states, so I’m not sure how prices compare here. The plan I have provides unlimited free calling and email to anyone else in the network, except for late hours. The charges for out-of-network or late calls are cheap, and emailing is even cheaper. Although, email charges are based on file-size, and it adds up quick if you go over so many characters. The basic email “package” includes some limited internet access as well.<br /><br />The cost of a cell phone itself in Japan is not cheap, at all. Forget about being able to get a nice phone for cheap with the signing of a contract (unless it's two years or more). Phones here are full price. I bought the second cheapest phone from a Soft Bank located in a Yamada electronics store. There are more Soft Bank stores in Nagasaki than Starbucks in any American city. Walk a few feet…Bam! Soft Bank. Here’s what my phone has/came with: about 200mb of internal storage capacity, two 2 mega pixel cameras (one on each side), a barcode reader, bluetooth and infrared support, a microSD slot, internet, TV (which I’m not buying), and I don’t know what else. The software it came with includes unit converters, a Japanese->English/English->Japanese dictionary, a couple games, an e-book, vocal recognition software, calendar, world clock, calculator, etc. Oh, and it came with Gundam emoticons. I don’t know how this compares to U.S. cell phone tech, but remember this is the crappy budget phone. The phone itself is chrome, which I really like, but it makes it a total fingerprint magnet. It came with a USB cable that I use to charge the phone through my laptop. The phone allows different types of text input, as far as auto-words and stuff go. Japanese text is entered similar to English. There is one button for each set of hiragana, and a menu pops up at the bottom allowing the user to choose kanji.<br /><br />This is completely unrelated, but…<br /><br />Japanese colors, as descriptors, are far more abstract and vague than in English. Traffic lights in Japan are, as in America, red; yellow; and green. Japanese traffic stops when the light is red (aka) and goes when it is blue (ao). Although, an American would definitely refer to the color of the light as being green. Green does exist in the Japanese language; the word for it is midori. I have no idea, then, what makes something green, but Japanese color descriptors cover a wide range. My homestay brother insists that my tan khakis are a shade of white and not brown.Small Town ALThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281047424718677973noreply@blogger.com0