Monday, 4 December 2006
Reasons why I shouldn't drink (cont.)
Waking up at 4.45am completely unable to get back to sleep. Seriously, it's like I have jetlag. At least the alcoholic hot sweats mean I'm not feeling the cold this morning. I still haven't used my heater this winter. I feel it's coming any day now. Because I'm up and about so early with the booze, I've taken a leaf out of my friend H's book. When she's had a night out she ususally can't sleep either and ends up doing the hoovering. Her poor neighbours. I've decided to use my time to make a dent in the laundry mountain that's built up over the exam period.
Sunday, 3 December 2006
Wanderly Wagon and more...
I knew if I were patient that someone would someday upload it. And that day has come. Here we have the Wanderly Wagon opening credits in all their glory. Please try and tell me that the producers of the show were not tripping on acid when then came up with this title sequence. It's so funky - way trendier than I remember.
As an expat, I just love the 'Irish-isms' in this clip. Godmother is going shopping for the 'messages' and Mr Crow goes on about 'chak-a-lits'. Enjoy.
And seeing as we're going on a trip down memory lane, I feel I can't leave out the Brits - they had a huge influence on my development, too. How about some Trumpton?
Or Bagpuss?
Or Pigeon Street? Now with some twenty years of hindsight, I'm thinking Long Distance Clara might have worn her some comfy shoes!
Reasons I shouldn't drink alcohol...
105 days of sobriety. That's 15 straight weeks, people! Fall off the wagon. One and a half TINY beers in (not even 40ccs) and I nearly walk into a lamp-post!
And friends wonder why I don't drive...
And friends wonder why I don't drive...
Free at last
Today, I took what I hope to be my last ever exam in Japan. I mean, assuming I didn't fail, that is. I think it all went pretty well. But you never really know with a language. It's all so ambiguous and tricky.
Walking out of my final test, I expected to feel elated. To be honest, I just felt tired. But I did see a guy cracking open a beer and it inpsired me to fall off the wagon. I cracked open that first can and I don't think alcohol ever tasted so good. I then went and bought a really good bottle of Medoc. I fully intend to go nuts now that I'm back on the sauce. Just kidding - everything in moderation.
I'm looking on the booze as physiotherapy. My neck is offically banjaxed. I guess the last four weeks spent with a pencil poised in my right hand have done my shoulder muscles in. My neck now makes a disconcerting crack when I turn in certain directions. Here's hoping that a little yoga will sort me out. If not, I could be looking at an expensive transplant.
The other big news on my side of the world is that I quit my job. I had planned to give my notice in the new year, but it all happened really naturally in the end. I will still stay on for a few months yet, but big changes are in the works.
I have to say the day I told my boss I was leaving is when I felt real elation. I'm a little scared, of course. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing next year. But on the other hand, that's wonderfully liberating. I've opened myself up to the universe and I'm ready to be pointed toward the next stage of my journey.
I'm not going to worry about any of that heavy stuff for the minute. I'm looking forward to my brother coming to visit in three short days. After that, I'm heading home for Chrimbo. I think December is going to be great.
All in all, I will not be sad to say goodbye to 2006. With a few major exceptions (my sister's visit, my new yoga school, my birthday) it was a bit rubbish. I have a feeling that 2007 is going to be my year. I'm nothing if not optimistic slash deluded!
Walking out of my final test, I expected to feel elated. To be honest, I just felt tired. But I did see a guy cracking open a beer and it inpsired me to fall off the wagon. I cracked open that first can and I don't think alcohol ever tasted so good. I then went and bought a really good bottle of Medoc. I fully intend to go nuts now that I'm back on the sauce. Just kidding - everything in moderation.
I'm looking on the booze as physiotherapy. My neck is offically banjaxed. I guess the last four weeks spent with a pencil poised in my right hand have done my shoulder muscles in. My neck now makes a disconcerting crack when I turn in certain directions. Here's hoping that a little yoga will sort me out. If not, I could be looking at an expensive transplant.
The other big news on my side of the world is that I quit my job. I had planned to give my notice in the new year, but it all happened really naturally in the end. I will still stay on for a few months yet, but big changes are in the works.
I have to say the day I told my boss I was leaving is when I felt real elation. I'm a little scared, of course. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing next year. But on the other hand, that's wonderfully liberating. I've opened myself up to the universe and I'm ready to be pointed toward the next stage of my journey.
I'm not going to worry about any of that heavy stuff for the minute. I'm looking forward to my brother coming to visit in three short days. After that, I'm heading home for Chrimbo. I think December is going to be great.
All in all, I will not be sad to say goodbye to 2006. With a few major exceptions (my sister's visit, my new yoga school, my birthday) it was a bit rubbish. I have a feeling that 2007 is going to be my year. I'm nothing if not optimistic slash deluded!
Sunday, 26 November 2006
Setting down roots
I had my last ever Japanese class this week, at least at my current school. It should have been a melancholy moment, but it felt so good. And now I have just one more test to do next Sunday and I am free. Please send out all your positive energy for me on December 3rd.
I have a problem with what I want to blog about today. It's not exactly that I have nothing to say. It's just that the things I have in mind are such downers that I don't want to think about them.
For example, right now in Japan the big news is a terrible trend towards junior high school kids committing suicide. Last year, 115 young Japanese killed themselves. It appears most deaths were a result of bullying or exam stress. But to be honest, the topic makes me so depressed that I can't bring myself to analyze it.
Then I thought I'd tell you about the Japanese movie I went to see on Thursday evening. It was called 手紙 - tegami - The Letters. But it was also pretty depressing.
I had been looking for a nice light story to forget my stress. From the poster, I had thought it looked like a simple romance. I was so wrong. I came out ready to jump under a train and delay some commuters.
The film was about the discrimation and social exclusion Japanese families encounter when a member of their family commits a bad crime and is sent to prison. Heavy stuff.
I must say though, I'm still now thinking about the themes brought up in the movie, so it can't have been all that bad.
I would really like to know if the same discrimination exists in other countries. Tell me what you think: In your home countries, if a member of your family was imprisoned for murder, do you think you would be driven from your home, fired from your job, and denied the chance to marry your loved one? I just don't know.
Another thing the film has done is to motivate me to look out for more books by the same writer. 'Tegami' was based on a novel written by Keigo Higashino. It won the prestigious Naokisho literary award here in Japan. I'm thinking one of his other books will be my next challenge when I finish up the exams next week.
So if all the above aren't cheery enough, what's left for me to write about. Well not much.
The one thing I did find fascinating last week came up in a discussion in my last ever Japanese class. Do you know that in Japan, if you go and visit someone in hospital, you should never bring a potted plant or anything that's alive and has roots? This is incredibly bad luck and quite bad manners. It signifies that you expect the person to be hopsitalized for a long time. The image given is of them setting down roots in their sick bed.
Just another example of the choppy social waters I have to navigate daily. Who'd have thunk a nice Christmas cactus or something would cause such offense.
The irony was that only moments previous I had given the boss of my school a very elaborate potted plant arrangement as a token of my gratitude. I wasn't brought up in a barn! But in this case, it surely didn't cause offense. She was very happy. But it looks like I'm setting down roots in the blasted school. I tell you, if I fail my finals and have to repeat next year, I am never setting foot in a florist's again.
Quick youtube update before I go. My video of the cicadas is now up to almost 12,000 views. My sister's singing... 18!
I have a problem with what I want to blog about today. It's not exactly that I have nothing to say. It's just that the things I have in mind are such downers that I don't want to think about them.
For example, right now in Japan the big news is a terrible trend towards junior high school kids committing suicide. Last year, 115 young Japanese killed themselves. It appears most deaths were a result of bullying or exam stress. But to be honest, the topic makes me so depressed that I can't bring myself to analyze it.
Then I thought I'd tell you about the Japanese movie I went to see on Thursday evening. It was called 手紙 - tegami - The Letters. But it was also pretty depressing.
I had been looking for a nice light story to forget my stress. From the poster, I had thought it looked like a simple romance. I was so wrong. I came out ready to jump under a train and delay some commuters.
The film was about the discrimation and social exclusion Japanese families encounter when a member of their family commits a bad crime and is sent to prison. Heavy stuff.
I must say though, I'm still now thinking about the themes brought up in the movie, so it can't have been all that bad.
I would really like to know if the same discrimination exists in other countries. Tell me what you think: In your home countries, if a member of your family was imprisoned for murder, do you think you would be driven from your home, fired from your job, and denied the chance to marry your loved one? I just don't know.
Another thing the film has done is to motivate me to look out for more books by the same writer. 'Tegami' was based on a novel written by Keigo Higashino. It won the prestigious Naokisho literary award here in Japan. I'm thinking one of his other books will be my next challenge when I finish up the exams next week.
So if all the above aren't cheery enough, what's left for me to write about. Well not much.
The one thing I did find fascinating last week came up in a discussion in my last ever Japanese class. Do you know that in Japan, if you go and visit someone in hospital, you should never bring a potted plant or anything that's alive and has roots? This is incredibly bad luck and quite bad manners. It signifies that you expect the person to be hopsitalized for a long time. The image given is of them setting down roots in their sick bed.
Just another example of the choppy social waters I have to navigate daily. Who'd have thunk a nice Christmas cactus or something would cause such offense.
The irony was that only moments previous I had given the boss of my school a very elaborate potted plant arrangement as a token of my gratitude. I wasn't brought up in a barn! But in this case, it surely didn't cause offense. She was very happy. But it looks like I'm setting down roots in the blasted school. I tell you, if I fail my finals and have to repeat next year, I am never setting foot in a florist's again.
Quick youtube update before I go. My video of the cicadas is now up to almost 12,000 views. My sister's singing... 18!
Monday, 20 November 2006
Por mi madre
Mam, this is for you. I rememeber sitting watching this together and you crying with laughter. It brought back many happy memories. Perfect comic timing. Enjoy.
My future job
There was a programme on Japanese TV the other day. It was about the Japanese boom in France. The Land of the Rising Sun is incredibly popular with the French right now.The show featured the third annual Japanese Expo in Paris. Young Parisians go there to pick up the latest styles in food, clothes, interiors, and so on.
From a Japanese (‘We’ Japanese) perspective, the French have got some of it horribly wrong. Hello, sushi with a side of white rice? Can you say ‘constipation’?
But other ideas offered a fresh slant on Japanese living. It was cool to see these chic ladies wearing traditional workmen’s cleft boots (地下足袋 - jikatabi - as pictured above) with their couture.
Anyway, the programme confirmed what I should do for my next career. I totally need to become a trend spotter for some think tank or high-flying consultancy or something.
What do you think was the hottest item at the Expo? What do you think all the trendy Parisians wanted above all else? What do you think I’ve been talking about since the inception of this blog? That’s right, the Japanese washlet / electronic bidet toilet, that’s what!
I’m so ahead of the curve. If the consulting doesn’t work out, maybe I can start a business importing and installing these conveniences in all the smart capitals of Europe. Anyway, want to go in on the business with me?
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