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Monday, December 29, 2003
Go gaijin, it's your tanjobi, go gaijin, it's your tanjobi
So I celebrated my first birthday outside the United States and it was pretty nice. Saturday happened to be the last day of work for the New Year holiday break, so I'm free of English language teaching slavery (er, work) until January 5th. After I got off work on Saturday went with my friend Stretch to meet up with Selman and some other friends at this reggae joint in Osaka which was playing some great reggae music. The only problem: 3,000 yen ($30) cover charge! What the hell... the 'free drink' that came with it annoyed me too... a cheap can of MILLER lite beer. Yuck. A couple of friends bought me burfdey drink-age though, so I guess it was OK. .:. Sunday, the actual day of my birthday, was much more laidback, and being so, more enjoyable for me. In the afternoon I met with Amy Nishimura, AKA "Amy Nish" who's also here in Japan on an English language teaching adventure, except with a different company and out near the city of Nara, which is about an hour and 45 minutes away from Kobe. We ended up just catching up over a cup of coffee at $tarbucks in the bottom floor of Kobe Kokusai which is in Sannomiya (downtown Kobe). Night time, my friends took me to a nice Indian place for an impromptu birthday dinner - the original plan to have nabe got scrapped due to complications with lack of a burner. No complaints from me, though... after large helpings of garlic nan, seafood curry, rice, and tandoori chicken, my belly had no complaints. The meal wasn't very cheap, but the group I ate with insisted on me not paying... a bit humbling to me as I contemplate that for all my friends here in Japan, I've only known them for less than 3 months. The crew then wanted to go bowling, but the lanes were way too crowded (one hour wait), so instead... sticker pics. How ritualistic Japanese, eh? Again, no complaint from me... they wrote "happy birthday Garrett" on the pictures. Yay! Bereft of bowl-age, we ended up back at Stretch's/Martin's pad in Sannomiya playing a wacky game that works like Jenga in reverse - stacking up wooden chips instead of removing rectangular blocks... riiiiight. Very simple game, but we seemed to have fun with it nonetheless. Some human beings, faced with boredom, have the special ability to make even the mundane hilarious. Around 11:30pm, it was off to the favorite hip-hop spot, PIZ, to watch a special event: 
Good stuff... couldn't understand all the Japanese the emcees were spitting, but the winner did drop some English in his rhymes that was funny. It's been an eventful couple of days... I can' believe I'm moving out tomorrow from the 'ol Myohouji to Kawanishi. .:. Random note: Mmmm, my hidden ambition... a book deal from blogging! Ah... to be published. | (0) comments 
Thursday, December 25, 2003
sad and yet happy
sad: Let me re-iterate: having a LD relationship is tough. Much respect to everyone I know who has had one / doing one right now. Yeah, Christmas here in Japan is a seriously huge commercial holiday that's celebrated mostly by only couples. Tons of BF/GF pairs walking around Kobe now and it makes feel a bit lonely... must be the evil in the heart of men to despise the blissful happiness of others. happy: Japan is really starting to feel like home and a big part of that is my co-workers... I love 'em like family. A great and varied group of Americans, Canadians, Aussies, Brits, Scots, and Japanese... all one happy family. Some pics from last Sunday's Christmas party at a Japanese restaurant/bar: 
Waiting to eat... (clockwise from far left) Davida, Birgitta, Hayley, Selman, Adam 
Same crew + Michelle, Tom, Ollie, Mika, and yours truly 
My secret santa present. sugoi! 
The Japanese staff (Ai, Miyo, Mako) from the school finally join us... they often work an hour extra than us teachers closing up shop and stuff. 
I dunno what's going on here... pot trouble? 
Yay, warm sake! Hits the spot after a meal. (note: blue glassware) .:. That's it from here in Japan. Merry Christmas, world! .:. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given... good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord... The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us... God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Isaiah 9:6 Luke 2:10-11 John 1:14 John 3:16 | (0) comments
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Me-rii Ku-ri-su-ma-su
Some thoughts are better expressed in rhyme-age. Merry Christmas from Nippon I rock microphones/ straight from my dome from this foreign land I roam/ across Pacific shores I still rep the truth for you and yours/ from the ceiling to the floors, from your bones to pores/ not just a rap or freestyle my journey more than 8 mile/ launching more boom than any sonic from Guile/ sincerely speakin' Father God still my shining beacon/ 'til I stop breathin' His spirit the company I'm keepin'/ Japan and America so much the same, that it's strange/ unconcerned with change, they'd rather count loose change/ from heaven they're far, obsessed with Coach bags, clothes and cars, commercialism's a disease infinitely deadlier than SARS/ the Last Samurai, call me Katsumoto with book and pencil/ holy faith keeps me armored and my swords are mental/ opening blind eyes with light from a holy path/ I'm out to slay Omuras obsessed with chasing cash/ agape love is Heaven's gift, yet people continue to drift/ always afloat without purpose, fooled by the myth/ ignorant people need to see the point like a needle/ materialism is lame and is makin' their souls feeble/ an authentic Christmas is about a single birth/ God came as man and changed the whole Earth... Blessings to all. | (0) comments
Thursday, December 18, 2003
rollin' deep like the presidents
So the (somewhat dreaded) hip-hop special lesson finally happened at my work and it went great! Major relief-age. I suppose part of the reason was the 6 super cool students who showed up, most of 'em my favorites. The roster: -one slightly age-ifed housewife who is a super-smart student -another housewife and iron chef-esque cook extraordinaire -(yet another) young housewife and 20-something womens' fashion designer -one post-college girl who works at the Japanese version of Old Navy / GAP -one middle-aged office worker -one OG grandfather-type retired d00d visiting from another school Yeah, a lot of housewives at my school. But I told you that before about, Ashiya, right? The plethora of hip-hop knowledge we taught:
The lesson was about 90 minutes with a 10 minute break half-way through. Somehow, miraculously, we were right on schedule. Or as my friend and fellow teacher Selman who co-taught with me would comment, "That's nice-ergy." Some of the pics courtesy of the digicam: 
One of the many posters I made for the lesson. I drew the original in black Sharpie (booyeah!), photocopied it, and colored it with markers during some of my free time at work. One of the Japanese staff at my school, Ai, cracked a huge grin when she saw 'em and busted out "Kakkou ii!" (rough translation: stylish, cool!) All those years I spent doodling in math class finally paid off. 
Selman and me crack the b-boy poses at the beginning of the lesson. 
One half of the class trying to match up the vocabulary slang words to their definitions. 
The other half of the class doing the same. All in all, a great lesson. I probably should have taken more pictures, but it's aight. 
Props! Souljah rep'n the T-dot-Oh. Yours truly rep'n the 2-Oh-6. I think Sel and I have now made the special lesson that all other special lessons will be judged by. It's a good feeling... Ah, the spirituality and passion that music seems to inspire me. Even atheist anti-hero Nietzsche admitted, "without music, life would be a mistake." Even though it was work, being able teach this lesson and have a fun time with the students... it was blessing from heaven just in time for the holiday. Gloria in excelsis Deo. My soul is feeling a 2nd wind and I got some new wallpaper to remind me if I ever get homesick again...  | (0) comments
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Holiday-age
(cue text-heavy rambling) Well, it's holiday season here in Japan just like back home in the States. People here have been going off on vacations, getting time off from work, and keeping occupied - which also means more folks coming into my school for English lessons. Yep, it's been totemo isogashi (very busy). Christmas time here in Japan is a bit odd in that most Japanese view the holiday from a purely commercial standpoint - it's a holiday I've been trying to keep in high spirits, but I admit both the extra busy-ness at work and seeing all these couples around does put me into a small holiday funk. I try not to think about Shiv, the fam, and all the friends that're waiting for me back home, because it's a little bit depressing. It also doesn't help that most of my new friends here in Japan all have either their GF/or wife here with them in Japan... I've forgotten that particular pain of being alone - the sting of seeing a couple happy when you yourself are alone at the moment. Bah. Being your typical emotionally-stunted Asian man, I can mentally compartmental-ize my life to some extent, and most of the day, I'm fine. But when stress gets too much... I'm all about a glass of straight whiskey and a hot bowl of kitsune-udon or katsu-don. Yeah, my comfort foods... * * * Today, however, I'm in better spirits. I recently picked up a package from back home and Shiv filled it with plenty of love and cool goodies - candy, tapes of American TV shows, and two gifts - one for Christmas, one for my birthday! Yay. On the otherside of the Pacific pond, I'm happy the packages I've sent to friends have made it for the most part. Even all the way to the Big Apple! Excellent. I'm also excited for tomorrow, too - I and my friend Selman will be teaching our special hip-hop lesson at work. Gotta take some pics... * * * The year's almost over... where did it go? Soon I'll be 25 and I don't even got a top ten list for my life yet. I'm having visions of High Fidelity-esque sarcasm and denial in my book. | (0) comments
Friday, December 12, 2003
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Garrett will be soon moving from his current residence, so any packages should no longer be sent past the 15th. Stay posted for the new addy. =) *** Some pictures from last Sunday's nabe (nah-bay) party courtesy of the digicam... 
Everybody crammed in a small tatami mat room, huddled around the pots. Pot #1: kim-chee nabe. Pot #2: regular fish broth nabe. 
A close up of the goodness... yum, yum. Having a spicy soup-type food really does help one from not feeling the cold. 
Guess who? 
The few remaining folks chillin' over a box frozen chocolates that tasted like imitation bons-bons... | (0) comments
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
what you thinking about? what you bout to do?
can you overpower something more powerful than you? do you think its helpless and you don't got the tools or are you following the path that God got for you? -Athletic Mic League, "Unconscious" Thank goodness for MD players... Athletic Mic League, Binary Star, and Dilated Peoples are in the heavy rotation right now. It's the weekend... not much to say 'bout it except that it's here. I might actually be doing some "work" this weekend, but it's just some preparatory stuff for a lesson another teacher and I are teaching about hip-hop - at least once a month, all the teachers at my school get to teach a special two-hour lesson that pretty much any student can sign up for, so we decided to teach one on hip-hop music and culture. Yep, teaching about hip-hop should be fun... I can't wait for the opportunity to hear 50+ year old housewives shouting out "WASSUP" and "BREAK YO SELF, FOO!". heh heh. Speaking of hip-hop here in Japan, I was able to go to a nabe (think hot pot) party at a friend's house recently and among the small group of a dozen people there, I met several local DJs and emcees from Kobe who invited me out to a special "Christmas" show next week at a local club. Hopefully I can score a spot on the guestlist and not have to drop a lot to get in... ah, the privileges that come with speaking English and being American. | (0) comments
Saturday, December 06, 2003
Soulfood, Japanese style.
The invitation to dinner was extremely courteous and the young teacher couldn't refuse. Besides being a foreigner on a rather meager pay, etiquette and manners required that he accommodate the request of his hosts, even though he politely expressed his sincere wish not to be a burden to them or that they go to any sort of extravagant measures to entertain him. Of course, etiquette dictated that the hosts, in order to show the maximum hospitality to their guest, do exactly what the guest asked them not to do - to take him to a fine meal, whose cost was to be no object. The hosts offered to pick the teacher at his home west of Kobe, but knowing that his home lay a long way from their home, the teacher insisted that instead he ride the train the majority of distance to visit his hosts and minimize the time it would take his hosts to fetch him. In the mind of the teacher, riding the train for an hour and a half was nothing, a mere gesture of the depth of gratitude he had toward his hosts' invitation. They picked him up at the train station and off they went to a restaurant. The restaurant was nestled in a quiet neighborhood outside the center of the city - no towering office buildings, mammoth warehouses, or sprawling shopping complexes were near by. The exterior of the restaurant was simple, an understatement even amidst the collection of humble houses that surrounded it. The teacher was informed by his hosts that their relationship with the restaurant was quite friendly, the host father's construction company being the people that helped to build the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, the architecture again echoed the values etched into Japanese culture - simple, functional, and graceful. A friendly hostess greeted the party and quickly took them to a private dining room, away from the general eating area open to the public. The private dining room was accessed by a small stone walkway, surrounded by garden that sprung up rather unobstrusively in the middle of the restaurant. The private dining room itself was floored with tatami mat, soft lighting, and a low ceiling. The hosts explained that the room had been constructed to ancient specifications - the dimensions of the room were all to ensure the comfort and sense of safety of feudal guests. Because of a lack of a window, a low ceiling preventing an overhead swing of a sword and the narrow doorway allowed easy defense of the room - a lord or aristocrat could dine in ease, without fear of assassination or attack. Adding to the air of serenity were works of art - a wall scroll of fine calligraphy, a statue of a kabuki actor, a flower arrangement, and a piece of pottery. 
As soon as the party was seated, the drink and food were immediately brought in. The young teacher marveled at the menu - handwritten in calligraphy by the head chef on expensive rice paper flecked with gold paint. Course after course, the food was brought out - small dishes, each prepared exactly the same for every guest with care and beauty. The pace of eating was leisurely, so the teacher and his hosts took their time - food and drink helped to make the atmosphere friendly for everybody. Even though he was a foreigner, and being such, was exempt from the traditional expectations of etiquette, the young teacher made sure to observe every convention, the most important being the pouring of rice wine for his hosts whenever their cups ran low. It was after about his 10th pouring, that the hosts laughed and commented to the teacher, "You are too polite. Please, while you are here in Japan, consider us family. There is no need to call us 'Mr' or 'Mrs'. Feel free to address as 'father', 'mother', 'big brother' or 'big sister'." The young teacher smiled sheepishly, bowed deeply in thanks, and replied in his unsteady Japanese, "It is no trouble at all for me to be polite. It is the least I can do for the kindness you have shown me in this country and the gift of this excellent meal." 
The courses continued, until at last, the final course arrived - a simple serving of tea for each guest and a piece of candy shaped like a maple leaf. The head chef and owner of the restaurant also arrived personally to greet the host family and their guest, the young teacher. "Did you enjoy the meal?" the chef asked. Everyone in the party nodded their heads and murmurred comments of thanks and praise to the chef for the meal. The young teacher also asked the chef a question. "If I may ask, is there a reason why every person here has a different bowl for their tea and a different mat?" the teacher asked. He had noticed that through out the meal, everybody had been served identical looking courses and dishes, except this final course, the tea - every person had received a completely different shaped bowl that held their tea, as well as different colored mats of material for the bowls to rest on. The chef smiled and replied, "Of course there is a reason. This meal is a traditional Japanese meal, in the style that commonly comes from Kyoto. The tea itself is part of a very old tradition that came from China. Do you have a guess as to the significance of why this final course is different?" The young teacher was silent for a moment as he pondered the chef's question. But as he gazed at his own bowl of tea, an idea struck him and he spoke. "Every person received a different looking bowl and place mat," the teacher began slowly. "However, everyone still was served the same tea in these bowls." The teacher paused to collect his thoughts. "It is the same way for people. Just as each of the tea bowls are shaped differently and appear different, so too do the events of life shape human beings and mark them differently. Our outward appearance, even our outward character, are all molded uniquely, just as these bowls are molded uniquely. And we sometimes are also placed in different situations and environments, just as these bowls all rest upon different placements." "Yet despite our different appearances, our different characters, our different situations - there is still a commonality that all people share, an existence of a spiritual self, a soul. It is the same for the bowls and the placemats - despite their differences, in the end, they still all contain tea. People and bowls... they are both vessels for something more precious than themselves." The chef nodded in agreement and chuckled. "Fantastic. You are correct, each of these tea bowls were handcrafted individually for the purpose of just serving, but they are representation of an idea more important than just drinking tea. Not only do you have the haircut of a monk, you have the mind of a monk. How is it that you understand these things? How were you taught them?" The young teacher smiled and shook his head. "My understanding of these things is very limited. But what little I know... faith alone has taught me." - - - The Akito challenge? . This is what happens when you miss your train and you have too much time in the internet cafe. At least I dun have to work tomorrow... | (0) comments
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
tanjobi omedete, darling!
Happy Birthday to my heart... here's a cake: 
And because it's your special day... I'll even do a little dance... ... ... ... ... ... Behold... the RAGING UNICORN! ;) 
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in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
the facts.
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