So… How about a post??

I’m sorry, I haven’t been updating this thing very frequently at all.  My current excuse is studying… I have been trying to spend my time studying the japanese language in hopes that I may one day have an intelligent conversation IN japanese.  The fact is, between running errands, school, and being social, i don’t have much free time at all.  No one else in my program seems to be interested in studying, and often they will follow me around, or i will follow them around to have yet another gaijin (foreigner) adventure.

I plan to continue the blog chronologically, but in between the big posts i might do smaller, more relevant posts (like this one) featuring bits of my day-to-day activities

Tonight, I thought I might share some of my poor quality phone pictures! (real pictures shall be uploaded later in the week, promise)

I apologize again that there’s been such slim pickins so far… there’s so much i’ve got here, it’s just gonna take hours to get it all out in words!  Anyway, prepare to be amazed by shitty resolution!

First we have the aftermath of last night’s kaitenzushi dinner.  For those unfamiliar, the kaitenzushi is a magical place where pieces of uncooked fish are placed on a conveyor belt to be snatched by the person in the restaurant with the fastest chopsticks.* The fish come out on plates of different colors, each color representing a different price tag. At the end of the meal a professional plate-counter (kozara kozoeru hito) comes to count your plates, and write your check.  The sensuous piece of fish in this picture is the super-pricy 200 yen Oo-toro (notice the black plate) This picture also represents the last time I felt fear, regret, pain, or love for another human being… having been so changed by the experience of the toro that i have transcended mortal thought.

There is a movie theater at one of the malls, and although the price tag in japan is a little high (20 bucks about) we had to see what was playing.  Apart from the many japanese movies and shitty western imports, I found this: a live-action gantz poster.  GANTZ is a manga that I had kind of fallen for, one that had excelled at mixing classic japanese story elements: Unique sci-fi, existential horror, social commentary, and attractive high schoolers with weapons trying to kill each other.  If it’s at all true to source material, this promises to be the most graphic and gratuitous smut ever to grace a sliver screen. And i get to see it first! Woot!

So anyway, this was taken moments before james’ big accident… we had gotten into some bad udon and a few poor decisions later found ourselves piloting one of the nagasaki busses through the cocowalk. As you can see, james can sometimes panic during stressful situations, but everything turned out for the best.  Due to my location near the open door i was able to jump free from the crash… James’s kung-fu hardened body suffered nary a bruise, and the only real casualty was a very trendy hat store.  Luckily, we both enrolled in our mandatory nagasaki gaidai insurance policies that morning, which cover us for up to $20,000 property damage

* for more information on the mystery of japanese sushi, please refer to this hilariously accurate instructional video