One man's trash is another mans treasure. So who wants my treasure?

Every time I throw something away, I have to pause and think about way more many things than I should have to:

• Would it be easier if I just ran down to the convenience store and threw it away there instead of it sitting in my house for about a month?
• Should I bother waiting to recycle the light bulb, or should I take the lazy way out and smash it into a million glistening pieces with my frying pan?
• Is this going to start rotting and attracting flies before the next Unburnables trash day comes along?
• How in the hell am I supposed to take this apart and clean it?

I completely understand the need for an efficient trash system. With 127 million folk inhabiting a few islands the size of California, there isn't much room for landfills. But when I have to look at the same beer can for 23 days, I start to get pretty damned peeved.


So I have an idea. I'm going to start chucking all of my trash in this empty lot a couple blocks from my house. But of course I can't just throw it all in a bag and dump it; they'll open the bags and figure out who I am. So, in order to this, I should probably sort all of my paper from the rest of my trash; a good chunk of it has my name on it. After that, I need to take each piece of trash, wash it clean until my fingerprints are gone, and throw each piece away in separate bags so it'll be more difficult to piece together. So, in order to pull this off, I'm going to have to clean, sort, and organize all of my trash into separate bags.


Shit.


Nevermind.

I Want a Magical Scarf

It's mandatory for Japanese students to wear uniforms. The boys and girls start off wearing the same thing in grade school; sweat pants, a cute shirt, and a cap. Yes, the kids have to wear a freaking cap when they go to school. I think through the whole process of uniforms making, someone was laughing furiously at the thought of kids wearing the most ridiculous things.

Come middle school, the types of uniforms for girls and boys start to diverge. The boys wear black pants, a button-up white shirt, and if it's cold, a button-up black jacket. The girls wear a dress/skirt that goes below their knees, a shirt that is almost the same as the boys, except they have to wear a bow. The girls aren't allowed to wear makeup, dye their hair, or wear jewelry.

High school is where things get ridiculous. The boys pretty much look the same, but the girls start to look pretty skanky. It's no longer a dress/skirt, but simply a skirt that they hike up half way until the bottom half of their thigh is showing. They are also allowed to dye their hair (to an extent, and it also depends on the high school), apply light makeup, and can wear jewelry (no piercings). Girls start to realize that they can garner a LOT of attention from the boys, and do whatever they can do do this.

This is where my motivation for this post comes in. Wednesday, it was COLD. And by cold, I don't mean brrr I should probably put on a jacket California cold, I mean holy hell if I don't put on at least three layers of clothing I'm going to die of hypothermia the second I step out of the door cold. This Wednesday morning, I put on a couple pairs of boxers, my work pants, an undershirt, my long-sleeved work shirt, and a jacket. I made my way to the train station, expecting everyone to be dressed in the same cozy fashion as I am. And for the most part, everyone was.


Except for the high school girls.


They were still wearing the same "I'm for sale" skirts pulled half way up their asses. I couldn't believe it. Practically anyone could have gone right up to them and gave them a nice pinch on the arse because their legs HAD to have been completely numb. The only item of clothing they wore to make them a bit warmer was a single scarf. That was it.


A scarf.


Maybe Japan sells magical scarfs, and I haven't caught on to them yet. They certianly must warm your legs, make you think happy thoughts, and make you not care what everyone else is thinking about you.


I want one!

What a shitty week.


I'll say why it's been shitty, and then try to put a positive spin on all of the mentioned times:


The shit: My city is on fire. Over 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes, and a good chunk of them have lost their home. My friends and family are in danger.

Why it's not so bad: So far there has only been one fatality, when last year there was 12. As like last time, people will rebuild, and nature will heal.



The shit: My favorite website got shut down. Albeit being on the slightly illegal side (mp3s), it had a strong community, amazing collection of rare songs, and overall just one of the best websites ever to grace the web. It will sorely be missed by me and the other 120,000 people that were members.

Why it's not so bad: The reason why it was so popular and stellar was because it filled a void that needed to be filled; the website had a tight-nit community, high quality music, and a clean interface. I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed, and other websites like it will soon follow.

There were other things to bitch about, but the clock is telling me to sleep.

I'm white! Do I look like I know Japanese?

The great majority of the time, it's quite annoying to have most Japanese assume that I understand as much Japanese as a dog would. Despite me speaking something that resmbles fluency, I still quite often get responses in English with their bastardized way of pronouncing my language: aa.. baasuroomu izu on za refuto~ (ah, the bathroom is on the left!). In fact, I could have been born here and speak as good as Japanese as any other narrow-eyed citizen, but I would still get the same treatment. But this isn't what this post is about; I've already come to terms with the fact that I'll always be initially treated like that mentally-retarded step brother that everyone wish would just go away.


This post is about taking full advantage of people thinking I don't speak a word of Japanese.


Me and my Austrailian friend, who is probably on par with what a Japanese dog would understand, headed to this family-run Itailan place to get some Monday night grub. We both ordered the "American pasta" - it being American because the pasta has bacon in it.

Shortly after we sit down, a young Japanese couple sit to the right of us; their conversation is well within hearing distance. I'm not paying too much attention to them, but at some point the guy says (In Japanese).. "Pfft, I can speak English".

I didn't hear the previous conversation, but I'm sure the girl made note of the fact that my friend and I were conversing in English and was fascinated by it.

So she responds with "Oooh really? You can speak English? Okay. Do a self introduction."

"...Why?"

"Why? You said you can speak English, right? Go on! Try to do a self introduction"

"....."

"It's easy! like this: Haaii... mai neemu izz Hiromi Takada. Naisu tooo meet yuu"

"...."

"Okay. Tell me how to say shumi in English

"..Hobby"

"Good! Now c'mon, say something else in English!"

"No way. Those two over there can hear us."

"No they can't! Don't worry about them"


So as this conversation is going, I start laughing hysterically at this guy's girlfriend calling him out on being able to speak English. They obviously assume that I'm laughing at something my friend said because they continued this charade for quite a while. So I thought at this point I would have some fun with it.


I saw a chef past by, and asked him in my best, speediest, crystal-clear accent where the bathroom was. I stood up as I asked him to start heading the direction of the bathroom and noticed two heads with very wide eyes dart up at me. I go to the bathroom, and when I come back out, there is just complete silence from the both of them.


"Yeah, they didn't say a word after you went into the bathroom", said my friend.


After I got back, they got up, said something about going to Starbucks, and took off.


So there are advantages to having a big-ass nose, curly hair and wide eyes. I'm incognito as long as I don't speak any Japanese!

The second story will also come soon. (Sometime when it's not past midnight on a weekday)

I don't keep this blog updated because I feel that my life is mundane and somewhat boring; even though I know that what I'm doing is completey different than what mots people are doing my age, it still feels like it's boring, average, and mediocre. Here's a rundown of my week after work:

Monday: Go to the gym. Either come home and make dinner or eat out. Get home, watch a half hour of TV (which is more of a chore than anything. I don't like TV, but I watch for listening practice). Practice guitar for a half an hour. Clean up my apartment. Check my email. Take a shower. Meditate. Sleep.

Tuesday: Same as Monday, minus the workout, plus a couple hours of Japanese study at Starbucks.

Wednesday: Go directly to gym, eat out, then go to "club konnichiwa" - a group of Japanese folk who have been kind enough to teach Japanese for free. Come home, TV, guitar, clean, shower, email, meditation, sleep.

Thursday: Go home to pick up guitar, then go to guitar lesson. Go to Starbucks to study Japanese for an hour or two.Rinse, wash and repeat events that usually follow me getting home

Friday: Gym. Afterwards it varies. Usually I go out with friends to eat, drink, or a combination of the two.


Saturday/Sunday: Always different, and usually fun. Last weekend I went to Kyoto and Osaka to visit a few friends. This weekend I'm going to some small village to help put on a Halloween event. Weekend after next I'm going to Tokyo to visit some more friends. Weekend before last I went to another tiny village of 800 and helped put on a cultural event at their bi-annual sports day.


The weekends are spontaneous enough to make my life break from the ordinary and keep from getting stuck doing the same static activities, but my weekdays have enough regularity to them that I feel my life is finally gaining a sense of direction and control.


I'm content. And that's all you can really ask for. "Happiness comes in small doses", said Dennis Leary. And my small doses usually come in the form of weekends.

If human beings could be defined by one word, and one world, alone, it would be that they are social. We are social creatures, and this is the force behind everything that we do. Because of this, we are also seeking one thing: validation from others. Men seek validation from women by mating with them. If they mate, they are validated. Women seek validation from men by growing their hair long, wearing makeup, putting on heels, wearing dresses, etc. to garner attention. If they are noticed by men, then they know they are validated. Students go to school to be validated by their parents, friends, and their community; it is the social norm. Even I, on some level, am learning Japanese to be validated and accepted by the Japanese population.


Different cultures have different ways of validating each other. In the United States, it is best to show independence, creativity, and outgoingness to show that you are an American. In Japan, to be validated by your peers, what you do is quite different. You join the group. You work as part of the group. You live, eat, think, and interact as a group. This never became apparent to me until I went to my school's cultural festival on Friday, which will be written about Wednesday.


Check in two days!