Goddam Japan, making me want a PSP -_-; New Persona game looks too damn awesome for its own good D:

Dear lord it's been awhile since I've done anything with this, hasn't it? Been this weird combination of frantic studying with midterms, weirdly awesome day trips, and very few lulls to actually just sit and do nothing. I had originally planned to not do an update until I had pictures, but seeing as how I can't seem to remember to bring the some 14 rolls of film with me to school to get developed across the street, I don't know when that'll actually happen.

( Long Update is Long )

This has quite possibly been one of the most tiring weekends I've had in recent memory. The week itself was fine and dandy. Nice excersise in Body/Comm where we basically interrogated three students from another one of the professor's classes with the guys from the Struggle for Justice class. We had to find out who had taken an object from a bag by body language alone. Turns out the student from Russia was responsible, even though the other two students had more drastic changes in their demeanor than she had. I guessed correctly, but it was on a combination of verbal and nonverbal cues as oppossed to nonverbal alone.

But anyway, this weekend. Friday was good, other than the weather. Went out with my speaking partner and a few other friends to Karaoke (which I am now probably addicted to, along with Melon Soda). This is where the booze that didn't show up at my actual birthday showed itself. Nobody got drunk, but there was a decent amount of it. Even managed to drag kung_fu_monkey into it despite repeated claims of disinterest. All in all, I consider Friday a huge success. Also have found that one Japanese song to impress the locals in Ride on Shooting Star. It's not that hard, but so far it's enough. I'll try moving on to harder stuff later.

Saturday my host father took Monkey and I to a Hanshin Tigers game. We left around 2 and went to this massive electronics store in Umeda to kill time. While Den-den town is technically larger by default, this was the largest single store I'd been in for this kind of thing (there might be one of similar size in Den-den town, don't exactly remember at the moment). After going through the store and grabbing more film for my camera (which is why there have as yet been no pictures, I still haven't developed them yet) and checking out said store, Monkey, Otousan, and I went to the Floating Sky Gardens, which is basically like the Sears Tower, only for Osaka instead of Chicago. I think I filled up an entire roll of film just from being up there. Afterwards we actually got on the train bound for Koshien (which if anyone has watched any anime about high school baseball, you should recognize the name), and arrived during the 2nd inning. The Tigers ended up losing 6-4 against the Swallows, but I highly recommend that if you get the chance to go to a baseball game in Japan, GO. They are nothing like games in America, with crazed fans and crazy mascots. Monkey got a picture that I wish I had taken, but I'm not allowed to really talk about it until he posts it. Just suffice it to say that it's awesomely amazing. Damn game's made me a near die-hard Hanshin fan (in other words, the normal type) so please forgive me if I have a tendency to rant about games on here every now and then, even when I'm outside of Japan (incidentally we won last night against the Dragons :D).

Sunday was also ridiculous. My Popular Culture as Social Practice class went to a performance of Takarazuka and that's another thing I'd highly recommend doing if you ever get the chance. For those who don't know, Takarazuka is an all-female theater group in Takarazuka that seems to have gotten a bit of a reputation for gender-bending performers and rabid fans (both of which are completely deserved). The play itself was based on The Rose of Versailles and I would have probably enjoyed that more if I was more familiar with the story (or maybe not, it was technically a gaiden), but the revue afterward was awesome. It was several song and dance numbers in rapid succession and towards the end, it had a bit of a Tengen-Toppa Gurren Lagann feel for the sheer immensity of the costumes themselves. This is definitely something I will not soon forget and again, highly recommend going if you have the chance. It's something else.

And so 21 passes without too much incident. I had orginally planned to go out tonight, but seeing as how I was feeling like crap throughout most of the morning and afternoon, rather glad I didn't. Feel much better now, though.

Anyway, quick update. The past week was pretty awesome, if for no other reason than it included a five day weekend (and therefor only two days of classes). Saturday was a group meeting for the International festival coming up in a few months, and Sunday was the University's open house for high school kids. They wanted some of the International students to talk about their home countries and it turned out to be pretty fun (even if a little lopsided, the US had THREE huge tables for them to choose from). Suppossedly we got a lot of kids interested in both the university and studying abroad, so not a bad time spent, if I do say so myself. Monday was cool. Went to the Osaka museum of art with kung_fu_monkey, and saw an exhibit that was, quite frankly, amazing and a little creepy. I have the pamphlet somewhere in my room, and will provide the name of the artist later so that you can check her out. Just know that some of her pictures are...a little disturbing to say the least. Afterwords, went to Namba again, seeing as how Monkey had never been. Still as awesome and expensive as it was last time, so hopefully I won't have to go out there too often for people.

Tuesday was by far the best day of the week, with a picnic put on by my host family. Had Monkey and a few other freinds come to the picnic under Hirakata Bridge and my host sister brought along a couple of her friends (one of whom has a son that I ended up playing catch with for about 20 minutes, I think). Lots of drinking and good times to be had by all.

Yesterday was the official party for me turning 21 (yes, I know I skipped Wednesday through Saturday, but not much really happened other than meeting a new Japanese friend and then proceeding to go out and karaoke with him and another freind of mine). The rest of the family came to celebrate, and it ended up being really fun. They even got me presents, although I really didn't expect them too. Otousan got me a shogi board, as I told him that I was interested in learning how to play (HARD AS HELL, doesn't help that he's incredibly good at the game), the younger sister and her family ended up getting me my first bit of Tigers paraphenelia: a megaphone shaped like a bat that I'll probably be taking with me to the game on Saturday, and the elder of the two got me what appears to be really nice sake. Hopefully I'll be able to get through it all before Christmas, seeing as how that's when I either have to got back to the States or into the seminar houses (which would be hard to get it through for the former and not allowed in the later).

Otherwise things have been pretty normal. I think Okaasan is a little disappointed that I don't speak with her and Otousan as much as she'd like, but when it comes right down to it, I have to study in order to stay here. A lot. So even though I'd love to continue to work on my Japanese, things have been piling up that I need to get done. I'll probably try to get more involved come tomorrow, after my plethora of tests :P

And it's been about two weeks since the last one and I've been trying to be better about updating. Oh yeah, this has been a great start on that account.

Anyway, tons of stuff happening. Went to my favorite okonomiyaki place again, this time Bryan and I didn't have Ida-sensei (the artist from last time) to translate for us, but we did have my speaking partner and her friend there instead. Met a guy who the patrons and owners affectionately call "Baldy" (obviously the English translation, can't remember the actual term) and he liked us so much that he gave us two books out of his...transportation. It was never made clear whether this was a car or a bike, I don't know, never saw it. Turns out the books are on Japanese history and are HARD AS FUCK to read. When my host mom saw them she looked at me like I was absolutely insane for even bringing them home to try and read. I haven't made a lot of head way, but hopefully I'll be able to give it a good whack over Silver Week (5 day weekend this week, w00t).

Met the grandchildren of my host parents, Kohta and Noa (2 and somewhere around 4 months respectively). I had been thinking about moving into the dorm after this semester, but those two have grown on me since then and I'm really starting to wonder about that now. That and not having to pay for evening meals is really, really nice.

Classes have also started in earnest and I've had to drop one and move down a level in Reading and Writing Japanese, which I hate. If you really want to know what happened on that disaster of an exam, I'll tell you later. I'd rather not think about it now. The classes in English that I'm still taking (I dropped the Music class) are really interesting. The Body/Com class has a tendency to go off on debates about gesture and its application to language (or even if that's all there is to language) every week, and the readings aren't as dry as they were before. The Popular Media class is also really interesting because it has us debating about the most random crap, like yesterday we were debating about the 90s and whether the stuff that was cool then was still cool now (which we determined that if you were involved at all (aka not in a cave) than the answer is a resounding NO).

Also went to the Eisaa festival in Taisho on Saturday (I know, I'm skipping around a lot, just typing as I'm thinking about it, sorry about that), which was awesome. The festival is a celebration of Okinawan culture, which might seem weird, seeing as how I'm on Honshu (the main island), but there are a lot of Okinawan people living in Taisho for a reason I can't remember. It was really cool to see traditional Okinawan martial arts and musical artists performing. Only real problem I had was that every single musical artist while I was there was either playing the sanshin or drum. Which I guess makes sense, seeing as how those are the native instruments of Okinawa. It was just a bit much.

I can also now say that I have eaten pig's leg, which looks and tastes like chicken skin.

I've also been listening to a hell of a lot of Abingdon Boy's School lately for some reason. Not entirely sure why. All I know now is that I kind of want one of their CDs.

So the past week has been pretty hectic. Orientation, mystic adventures, Kyoto, and host family stuff. First off, Tuesday evening, my new friend Bryan and I go off towards the station to check out the local department store. It`s okay, not great, but that`s beside the point. Afterwards, we randomly stumble across an okonomiyaki shop called ほほえみ (kudos if you know what the word itself means) where we end up making friend with the entire restaurant, mostly due to an artist who was kind enough to translate for us. He bought our drinks (including my first beer) and the restaurant ended up buying our meal, which if you`ve ever been to Japan, you know how expensive that can be. We intend to go back there every week or so now. The place is that awesome.

Wednesday I find out who I`m supposed to stay with for homestay: a 40 year old single mom and her 2 year old son. I think that this should be interesting and am really psyched about it. Thursday I find out that the grandmother died and they wouldn`t be able to house me for about a month. The University was kind enough to arrange for another family on Saturday and we all go on our merry way. I do feel kind of bad for bailing on the original family though.

Friday is the Kyoto tour. There are about a hundred international students going so they split us into groups and pair us with a group of local students. I was in a group of 4 and our guides were Genki, Kana, Saeka, and Tsubasa. The trip was great, got to understand the transit system, saw a huge torii, went to a shrine, and got my fortune there (it was a good one too :D). Had udon with the guides before going out to Karaoke for about 3 hours. Started with Frank Sinatra`s "Fly Me to the Moon" and it just got crazier from there. Turns out one of the guide girls is a huge Eva freak, which I`ve never seen before. Other than being a few minutes late getting back, the day was an all-around win.

Went to Namba yesterday w/Bryan, which is basically the Akihabara of Osaka. Nerded out there for awhile before heading back and having dinner. I just found my new shopping hub, and it`s only a 15 minute train ride XD Met my new host family today, and it turns out they`re really nice as well as really close to the University. They don`t speak much English, but that`s alright with me; means I have to learn the language or die trying. They have a two daughters who don`t live with them anymore, one of which I`m supposed to teach English too on Sundays. The other is married and has a two year old son and I haven`t met them yet. I`m currently borrowing their computer, but mine is registered with the University, so I`ll be able to use that during the day. I don`t think I can get used to typing on a Japanese keyboard. The space bar is tiny.

That being said, here`s my class schedule:
M-F Spoken Jap. 4
WTF Reading and Writing Jap. 4
TR Body and Communication in Japan
WF Pop. Music in Japan
WF Pop. Culture as Social Pratice

No Japanese classes tomorrow, so I`m basically free for the day. Going to FINALLY meet my speaking partner and look at some of the clubs on campus.

Right, so seeing as how all I really talked about was the flight and everything up to that point last time, here's a good chunk of the rest of what happened.

Airport: Customs. A lot easier than I thought it would be to get through. Also met a fellos exchange student at the airport who I talked to for about five hours as we were waiting for the bus to leave (it left at 4, we got there around noon). Turns out she and I have a lot of interests in common and we talked a lot about getting together and doing stuff. Now I just need to find her again >_>

After getting to the dorm and checking in, we (the students) were led to a supermarket, which, as it turns out, isn't as good as I thought it was when I first saw it (more on that in a minute). Didn't buy anything because I wasn't all that coherent from the mass amounts of jet lag, but eh, you go with what you got. Went to bed the earliest I have in years.

...and as such, woke up at 7:30 with no idea what to do. Decided to explore around the area to find out what was around with one of my temporary roommates (from Canada). Nothing opens until at least 9 AM here it seems, which in some aspects makes sense, but when you're looking for breakfest at 8:45, it's rather annoying. We found the local shopping district (which has about 6 different karaoke bars) which has two better supermarkets than the one we were shown the night before, just for pricing and variety. And they're of comparable distance, so it really doesn't matter which one you go to. Had a huge lunch for ￥500 and then headed back and studied for a bit before being taken to the local electronics store. Marveled at Japanese cell phones for a while (which I can't get until my Alien Registration Card comes in! *shakes fist*) before going to Kappa Sushi (yeah, sushi within three days, but hey, it was good) and having a cheesecake flavored cake for dessert. Yeah. Cheesecake-flavord cake. You do the math on that one.

Alright fine, so I didn't actually have a proper farewell post (meant too, but I'm not paying $7 to use the Internet at LAX), but I am actually here at Kansai Gaidai safe and sound. The flights were petty uneventful, but while I was in LA I was with my aunt, grandfather, and cousin and they all showed me around. So yeah, saw the Chinese theater, Kodak theater, Venice Beach, and a few other things, as well as catch a glimpse of Quentin Tarantino.

I'm not kidding.

I'm walking with my grandpa when my aunt starts waving me over towards the escalator and as I get there I see him heading up (couldn't get a picture though, three people behind us had pointed him out and he looked to be in a bit of a hurry after that). Still, cool beans. Went to a sushi bar before I left too (yes, right before going to Japan) and basically had a ball before heading out on that 13 hour plan ride to Taipei.

I'll write more later, but about to go on a tour to find the electronics store and go to dinner afterwords.

I'll do a proper "So long and thanks for all the fish" a little later when I'm not pressured by the packing woes for Japan. In the meantime, however, I would just like to say this: A man I greatly respect and admire died yesterday. I may not have agreed with him on several issues, but he was one of the few people who knew where they stood and stuck to it. I admire him for no other reason than that and I truly wish that I myself can become like him in that respect. Senator Kennedy is a role model for how politicians should be for their country: passionate, precise, and unwavering to themselves and their purpose for the American people.

And for that he will be missed.

Behold the randomness that I am about to ask you all to impart upon me, but I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about how he's come to not believe anyone whenever they tell him that something is, for lack of a better word, a mindfuck. Several people have apparently told him that several different shows (anime in particular) would just take his brain and put it through the wringer and when the show failed to deliver, he was rather disappointed. The only reason I really bring this up is because that got me thinking, just what is a mindfuck to people? For me, it has to be something where I can sit through the show and think I know what's going on...except that I have absolutely no idea what's going on at all and I couldn't tell you even if I tried (a la Lain or Boogiepop Phantom).

And so f-list, just what is a mindfuck to you? *this is my curious face*

If it were anything else I'd probably be asleep right now. If it were actually something I cared about doing I would be excited and asleep right now instead of being bleh and bored.

For those of you who don't know, Persacon's tomorrow.

I know, right? A convention a little over half an hour from my house and I really don't want to go, not even to do my original plan of mooch for pictures. If it weren't for the fact that a friend of mine who's been gone for several months might be going to it, I wouldn't have even considered the mooching and now I just don't want to deal with it, period. Part of me wants to stay just so that I can work on finding stuff for Stoner before the next meet-up (hoodie and hat, specifically (and yes, a hoodie in what is bound to be 90 degree weather, ah the perils of Alabama costuming)) the other part is that I don't want to go to a crappy con, even if there is the possibility of pictures out of the deal.

I'd like to see people that I'd never get to see except at a convention (at least two come to mind), but again, I just don't want to deal with it. I even know of someone who'll be coming up on Sunday and if she can't get in free (she participated in something last year that allowed the possibility of that) than she's not bothering with it either. Hopefully I'll at least get to see her so that she doesn't waste an entire trip just to find out she basically did just that. The fact that I'll be in Japan come late August before AWA rolls around rather augments this, seeing as how it won't be until next June or July before I'd get the chance to see them again.

I remember the days when going to Persacon actually meant something to the majority of the people who went. It wasn't a huge convention, like MTAC or AWA, but it was OURS. People there generally felt like family and you actually had the chance to MEET people you'd like to see. It was close, intimate even. And that all changed in almost a single year. What had been bright and vibrant and become dull, lackluster, and drama-heavy, and as a con-goer, you could feel the drama and that should NEVER happen as a con-goer if the staff are having drama.

And even after saying all this, I still might end up going, just to have something to do tomorrow.

Never in my life have I been more tempted to spend money on things I know I shouldn't (especially when it comes to anime), but this just seems too awesome to pass up. I can get all 12 of the Eureka Seven DVDs for about $36 from rightstuff. $36! I have never seen anything even remotely resembling that before! It's also one of those series that I've been wanting to get since school ended, but I always figured I get it from one of my old roomies when I went to visit in August. Granted, that would be both free and more transportable, but this is actually OWNING a series that I like, which generally makes me feel better than having it on my hard drive. That and DVDs generally have better quality than computer things anyway.

AAAAAAAA, DAMMIT. Hopefully lack of funds will keep me from this, but damn it'd be nice to have.

I have an announcement to make that has nothing to deal with anything important whatsoever, only that it makes me very proud to say so! I beat Persona 4 about 20 minutes ago and I feel the need to...well do something awesome. Now if only it weren't 3 AM XD; *totally hopped up on adrenaline from getting the true ending* Is it sad that this one of only about four games I have actually completed? I should find this obsessive drive for other things.

Maybe I can actually get back to watching anime and studying for my trip to Japan now >_>;

Today is a day to remember. A time for family and friends and, in some places, fireworks. But today is also a day of remembrance to those who fought for American independence way back in 1776. I love my country, I love what it stands for. I believe we are a great nation, and today is a day to reassert that to ourselves.

...as Billy Mays died today.

You know, with this week of celebrities dying (Ed McMahon, Fara Fawcett, Michael Jackson), this is really the one that gets me the most. Ed McMahon was old as dirt, Fara was battling cancer, and Jackson...well, he's Michael Jackson. But Billy Mays? The man who brought us "Billy Mays here with [insert advertised product here]!"? It seems silly that I think that the death of a pitchman is more saddening than that of a pop legend, but I had much more respect for Mays than I ever did for Jackson (which is probably why I'm annoyed that all CNN and Fox seem to be covering are Jackson, while there's shit going down in Iran that deserves far more press time than it's getting). Yeah, Jackson was a genius in the realms of dance and music, he touched a lot of lives, I won't deny it. Mays was just more shocking to me.

Now, before I begin, I would like to say this. I don't normally do what I'm about to do, nor do I normally say what I'm about to say; I'm generally of the opinion that your opinion is yours and mine is mine and that politics should generally stay out of most discussions because it's a powder keg just waiting to go off once you introduce it to a conversation. But there's something that I believe needs to be said, and that is this:

Why are the bastards who have been in Washington for years and ruining our country STILL THERE? How can a bill that only raises our taxes for no reason other than to fill the pockets of those on the Hill and their pork even pass the House, if just barely? Why does it seem that all we ever do is spend more and more money when we have a debt the size of the moon? Why is the government just getting bigger and bigger when the Founders wanted a government large enough to protect it's people but small enough to just let us live our lives without them glaring over our shoulders?

And why does it seem that we're okay with a government that's out of control and has been out of control for the past several years?

This is not me hating Obama and the Demorcrats. This is not me hating Bush and the Republicans. This is me questioning the integrity of those that we continue to send to the Capitol in hopes of better and brighter tomorrow and how they can continue to let us down. Are they out of touch? Do they just not care? Are those who are actually honest and trustworthy being drowned out by those who just have the political muscle and squashed until they fall in line?

Why are we okay with that? Why do we keep sending the same people and hoping for different results? Why do we send different people, who sound a whole lot like the first people and hope for something new and different and right?

Whatever happened to integrity in politics?

Whatever happened to character?

Do they just not matter anymore?

Basically just a quick post to state that I do in fact exist. I've been home, but I've been in and out of town for the past two weeks (Lake Martin with family and PCB with my dad and some friends of ours). It's been busy. And awesome, but mostly busy. I've been borrowing Persona 4 from a friend of mine and I might actually get time to play it soon, seeing as how I'm now at home...a lot.

Dammit, I need a job.

Also, happy belated birthday kefanii! Would have said it earlier on the phone today if I had remembered that it was yesterday >_> I've been out of the loop on a lot of things and absent-minded recently.

On an unrelated note, does anyone else think it's weird that I can watch obscure series like Gankutsuou and Gun Sword on Netflix instantly and the only Miyazaki film available for that is his Lupin III movie? Not that that's a bad movie (it's awesome as a matter of fact) it just strikes me as odd.

So I just got out of the new Star Trek movie about an hour and a half ago and I'm STILL high on it. HOLY CRAP STAR TREK, YOU MAY HAVE JUST REDEEMED YOURSELF FOR THE TV MOVIE THAT WAS NEMESIS. Something that actually resembles a plot, well-placed humor, a decent amount of throwback, while still working in a good deal of variation and awesome! I won't go much deeper into it, at least not at the moment for two reasons: one is that I should technically be studying for my final tomorrow and the other is that I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't seen it yet.

Just do yourself a favor and GO. It's the best $8.75 I've spent in awhile (Watchmen is a close second).

So it's 1 AM, and I'm still tired from the weekend (which I'll eventually write about, but not right now) but seeing as how I took a nap from like 3:30 to 7:15 this afternoon, I really don't feel like sleeping right now. So instead, here's a meme I stole from kefanii, just because I can. Also, I'm marking stuff differently depending on how much I've seen. All the way through is 'x', mostly is 'm', and a scattered episode here and there is 's'. Yes, I am that bored.

( OMG GIANT LIST O'ANIME )

So I just got the confirmation email today and I'm going to Japan come next semester! I'm really excited about this. For those that don't know (which I think are few and far between now, but I'll say it again anyway), I'll be going to Kansai Gaidai which is somewhere inbetween Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe where I'll hopefully be staying with a host family over my time there. I've still got a lot to do (Visa for one thing) but at least I now know that I'll be going instead of sitting around in the dark like I have been for the past month or so.

I'll update more later, probably when I either have more information or something else that's awesome. But still! JAPAN.