Homework for the Overactive Brain

Today's Quote--"Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me..."

Sunday, December 07, 2003

 

Well, hope you got the quote there...Hmmm. ?S‚É•—‚ª??‚­?B?S‚ɉJ‚ª?~‚é?BHee hee! Maybe there is Kanji for you today! Well, if you only get pretty boxes...change your computer settings! This is my pretty saying I told you about much much earlier...kokoroni kaze ga fuku. kokoroni ame ga furu. A wind blows in my heart, rain falls in my heart. Purty ain't it?! 'k moving on. Life is precious...remember that. All righty, so going home super soon now, very excited, but sad at the same time...complicated aren't they? Emotions? Hmmm, yes. It's snowing! Ahhh, it feels a lot like Christmas...with all this snow on the ground and stuff...yep. All right so I'm excited about going home and my mind is going now too! Weee heeee heee heee. What? You want substance? Who said I write substance? Which liar told you that one...me? Oh, well, only if you're a teacher and we're talking about a paper due in your class...then yes, I write substance. *ackhem* Now that we've got that out of the way...on to the BS....uh, I mean substance.

Since I am going to be back in that other world real soon, I've of course been think about SUA. But a call from Gon-chan in Tokyo on Friday really started me thinking. I called back Saturday (I was um, ackhem, out...friday...okay, okay, I admit it...I was out drinking and partying and singing at a karaoke party...and yes...I had FUN...muwahahahahahhahah. Huh? Oh yeah, story). It was great to hear his voice. As my faithful readership knows (all 5 of you), I have been very nervous about coming back to SUA. I still am. But talking with Gon-chan made me feel sooo much better. For some reason talking to him about the weather in Tokyo made me think, "you know what? Yeah, I can go back there and do it, I won't be alone." Amazing how that works. Voices and all. And I managed to make a phone call even though I hate phones...how wild is that?! Yeah, it's pretty odd, that just talking on the phone to one person would make me feel that much better about going back to that insanity, but it did. Of course, Gon-chan is pretty good at doing that most of the time, anyway. So, it might just be him. ;) No, I am not going to even entertain any suggestions of any previous refreneces to Antonio Bandaras. And if he's cut his hair funky again, most certainly not. Ackhem. Anyway, he's going to do a little shiraberukoto (’²‚ׂ鎖) on the trip from Haneda to Narita and see if there isn't some easier/cheaper/quicker way...and even if he doesn't find anything out, it was the looking that was important. It reminds me that all of this SUA stuff, is really just giving us living connections we can use in the future. I hope, anyway. Right, so pretty cool, and feeling kinda relieved. I know I'm still going to have to lug my stuff around 4 or 5 airports (all in the space of about 24 hours...grrrr), but at least at this moment, I'm not worrying about it.

So, on to some other fun stuff...
Speaking of school...
Hokusei Gakuen's Bookstore: Hokusei Gakuen's bookstore is just about the coolest place ever, I think. You want something? They got it. You need pads?...BAM...pads for you...you need flashcards?....BAM...flashcards for you...You need lunch?...BAM...lunch for you...You want instant ramen?...BAM...not only instant ramen, but the hot water to make it too! (Also have a microwave and a steamer for nikuman)...even better...You need pictures developed?...BAM...pictures developed for you...You want to travel?...BAM...travel agents for you...You need a new suit?...BAM...new suit for you...Oh yes, and you want some magazines?...BAM...magazines for you...School supplies? BAM Snacks? BAM Christmas cards? BAM Film? Batteries? Shaving Creame? Makeup? Gloves? Umberella? BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, and BAM...there. Yeah...pretty cool place. Of course they sell textbooks (though amazingly not any textbooks that a ryuugakusei would need...hmmm. *frown*). But no school logo stuff. I don't think Hokusei has school logo stuff. Hmmm. Well, anyway, I love it, and for those of you who find yourselves in Japan...in Sapporo...at Hokusei...I think you'll like it too. And I always get complimented when I give exact change...hee hee hee.

Righto moving on...

If every human being is imperfect...would an imperfect human being then be perfect? Or is an imperfect human simply being redundant? An oxymoron? Hmmm...ponder.

As much as I love Japan, there is one downside, recently named the "Green Monkey" effect. Although I, personally, have not encountered much of this bias, it has happened to some of my friends, especially one very popular green monkey, JeB. (No his name is not Jeb. This is an abbrivation that serves to separate him from Jason B., the BCA director). This subject will keep me going for a while, so if you have a pressing report due, stop now while you still can...finish it, and come back...you know, when you really need a procrastination break. First off, some Japanese history to explain why this "green monkey" bias/effect is not new.

Japan has been very wishy washy when it comes to foreigners. Maybe wishy washy isn't quite the word...cutting off heads isn't quite wishy washy...but popular opinion about foreigners and foreign things/ideas has had a rather penduleum like history. Go back towards the beginning of Japanese history...not real big on foreign things. Get to Prince Shitoku (ummm, about 600 AD?) and he starts importing Buddhism, Chinese lettering systems and government. Foreigners big. Hit the end of Emperor controled Japan, the Shogunate era begins...aka Edo period (1400AD?), this would be the era of cutting off heads...mainly of foreigners, but samurai and fuedal lords were big on testing sword sharpness on pesant necks...just like in Europe! Anyway...ackhem, besides the point...Foreigners and foreign trade were regulated to one port...Japan gets rid of guns and gunpowder (imports from China) and sticks with swords (ahahahah, *cough* please ignore the pun). Foreigners Bad. Meiji resotration (of the Emperor) 1868. Foreigners good...import new government/social structure from Western powers. German/French/American school system, English/German government, etc. Penduleum swings to neutral at the beginning of the 20th century as Japan aspires to control all of Asia...and foreigners hit a big high again after WWII and America's occuapation...we're still riding on that high today. And that's a brief look at the pendeluem history of Japan and Foriegners. Yeah!

What is the "green monkey" bias? (Oooooo, sounding like an actual report or something...you sick, sick child. Just because you haven't had to write an essay in how many months? Oy..."but I was having withdrawls!") Anyway...Hmmm, how to explain. As a foreigner (obviously other Asians don't count, not that I don't love you, just that popular Japanse thinking puts other Asians down on the list of animals...they're more like "blue ferrets" than "green monkeys") you are easy to spot. You therefore are a rarity (and are obviously American and speak English...even if you aren't and you don't), and people are drawn to you. In some places, like Tokyo, there are lots of foreigners all of the time, so this bias might be less. But as a "green monkey" you are seen as entertaining (and often times as not entirly too bright, either), and often times, people will treat you like some sort of an amusement. "Ooo, you got one of those green monkeys?!" (said to a host parent) "Yes, and he can even say a few words, too!" (host parent's response) "Speak, green monkey!" And thus you begin your jikoshoukai (personal introduction) that you have been slaving away at for the past month. "oooo! Can I give it a cracker/beer?" "Sure, it likes beer." Oy. (Ackhem, once again, this is somewhat modified version of JeB's encounters, not mine. ;) ) This is the first side of the "green monkey" bias. Of course, in the beginning your Japanese isn't really good enough to understand this all, but over time you begin to realize that your host family is actually selling tickets online for your dinner parties...;) No, but people are fascinated if you know a little Japanese and you will often get complimented for simple phrases, even when your accent is horrible. (need I mention the earlier statement about exact change?)

The other side is a little bit more serious, and not really a joke. If you ever actually become fluent in Japanese, you begin to encounter problems. This is from JB's encounters...and obviously all people are not the same. But the people at the bank that used to be so helpful when all you could say was "domo arigato gozaimasu" (thank you), now take three times as long, give you more stacks of paperwork, and frown down at you the entire time once you are able to say something much more fluent, "chokkin shitain desuga..." (I would like to start a savings account...). JB's response has been to speak in English at certain venues, even though he is perfectly cabable of doing it all in Japanese. Once you have learned the language, the fun of being a "green monkey" is lost and now you're really just another burden. So, while the popularity of 'western' foreigners is still high, those who live in Japan will find that the "green monkey" bias is still alive and well. It is impossible to hide and just be another member of the faceless crowd, and there are always going to be people around to remind of you that. Like the people who refuse to speak in Japanese to you...or refuse to understand you unless you speak in English (that's happened to me!). "Three people?", store employee. "Hai, san nin," me. "Three people?" "San Nin" "Yes?" "hai" "yes?" "hai" "Yes?" "YES!" "Hai, kochira desu." GRrrr! The makings of a great comedy sketch...or a really bad day in Japan. ;)

But of course, there are always bad apples that make things seem worse than they are. In reality, this does happen, sometimes more than others. But overall, the Japanese people are very friendly and open (especially in Hokkaido). There are always going to be biases, and you will never fit in (again, 'westerner'), no matter how long you live here or how fluent you become. But it's still a pretty nifty place! Okay, well, now that I've begun the work on someone's senior thesis...I should let you all go and go do stuff...shopping?! Hee hee hee. Oki doki...off again, into the wild blue yonder...

GL 11:18 PM