Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house

Or at least i would hope so. Because on Saturday we're having party, and what's a party without daft punk? Difficult question to answer. So soky has invited a few Japanese kids, and they are all on the maybe list. I know that nobuko, a girl that lives near by, and two of the Denny's senmongaku kids are coming. Then, at least three from shorinji, and then also soky has invited three mercans, of which one is definitely coming.
It started as Soky wanting to have the maybies over, and to make mexican food for them, so I think it would be at least slightly comical if they didn't end up coming, but it will be fun in any case. When I invite people, they all ask if its a halloween party, i guess we should've thought about that. In the future, I will make sure that all of our events have themes. I think i may take themes from bro-house parties, improve them, and then call them my own, just for fun!.
Did I mention that my room is loud and bright in my previous post? It is. Or it still is. I have a 5 hour window for sound sleep, after that its more of a struggle.
ok. peanut butter jelly time. then studying. then shorinji. woo!

I have no internets at home

I'll try to post from school, like I'm doing now. I have to go to shorinji though. So I'll just say that internet is very much a part of my daily life, and it is strange to not have it readily available for use in my home. Hopefully that will be taken care of soon. I also hope to find a place to do my laundry. People came over last night and we watched little miss sunshine in Japanese. The voice actors aren't as good as real actors, their voices are too generic, and they speak Japanese which just isn't nearly as interesting of a language as English. Also, using foul language is much more expressive and allows for more creativity in English. It was fun having people over though, and I think it will start happening more often.
Also, I met Johnny (maria's bf) for the first time last week. He's a good guy and I think he enjoyed is brief stay in Tokyo. We made some great food for dinner on Monday night. Pasta with chicken and veggies, a salad, and some garlic bread. It was great. Also, I've been eating a huge amount of food lately. I can't remember if this is how much I used to eat or not, but it seems like more. I just don't get full. I think I'm up to 5 meals a day, like they recommend, except I don't think you could call them "small meals". oh well. if i start cooking more, and packing sack lunches instead of eating out, it won't be much of a financial problem. I'm looking forward to seeing people when the come, maria in nov. faith in dec. travis and possibly erin in spring(i think march). and then my parents and possibly bretton next summer. Also, I'll try to get down to Kyoto to see everyone there in November, I hear Autumn is the best time for Arashiyama, where Raul lives, cause of the momiji. mmm.. maple trees? i think. ok.

My address

5-44-19 kameido, koto-ku
Room 102
Tokyo 136-0071. Japan

Woo

I just paid last months cell phone bill. 1372 yen. so 11.6 US dollars. What a deal right?

But first... you must find a man named hoshonin, he will give you a mirror

I forget if this idea was first introduced to be me by B, someone on my trip, or if I thought of it, but that is not important. And the fact is,Japan is very much like a video game, and it is would only be logical that many people come to this conclusion independently, in any case.
Let's talk about role playings games. Generally, a young hero is trying to save the world, or doing something else that is fairly important, or at least worth doing. In order to accomplish his goal, and it is usually a boy, he most likely has to cover great distances by various means. Along the way he receives help from various people, some of them actually joining his party.
But what do you really do for 10-100 hours while playing this game? It could take much less time if the problem was easy to solve, but the hero is never equipped to do what needs to be done until the end of the game. He needs to acquire strength and skill at fighting, powerful items and weapons, and knowledge that allows the plot to progress. A good game will be enjoyable the whole way through, or poorly designed game will be boring, frustrating, and very similar to parts of daily life in Japan. And though trying and perhaps not worth playing, people like myself will sit through it, get their $50 worth and make sure it was in fact bad by finishing it in its entirety.
Things that make boring gameplay: repetition, useless/time consuming quests, repetition.


So let's say our young hero is looking for a place to stay. At long last, he decides on an apartment and would like to complete the necessary paperwork to finish the deal.
-Yes we can do that, except, do you have a guarantor? No? Please go find one.
-Back already? did you find a guarantor? no? come back when you have a guarantor.
-Is that you? did you find a guarantor? no? better go find one!
-Back already? did you find a guarantor? no? why don't you try looking at the school?

So on the way to the school you get to play the train mini-game. If you have good timing you can board quickly, if you show up and it is about to leave you have to mash run and hope get close enough before the cut-scene starts. If you don't make in time you have to watch the same cut-scene of a yellow train moving away every time. But its not a huge deal, you just wait a few minutes and the next train comes. Hope there's an empty seat! if not you can stand next to one and hope that the person you have chosen to stand in front of will be one of the ones to leave at one of the following stops. Note, choosing which seat to stand by isn't particularly fun, but you can't rest without a vacant seat, so it can be useful in replenishing your stamina.

So you get off the train. Walking through the train station is not too much of a game, when there are crowds in Japan everyone takes very small high frequency steps, which i find amusing. There is never a complete stop at bottlenecks. If there are twice as many people entering an area of the same size, as in, room is lessening, people just takes steps that are half as long.
When leaving the station, at the beginning of the game you have to use a ticket that you buy before use, but as you progress you can buy a card that holds money on it so that you have to actually make purchases less often. After you receive the ID Card, you can even go to special stations and receive an unlimited use commuter pass, which is worth the price if you commute frequently enough.
Anyways, you are walking out of the station, i guess walking around japan can be likened to that chicken game or frogger, but those games are oldschool and not really representational of life. I do often feel like i'm in a game like shenmu though, i think re4 uses similar gameplay, where your walking and some guy on a bike listening to his ipod comes whizzing by and you have to hit left and b at the right time or something like that or you'll get hit. This is fun, because you see other people having to do it too, and that makes in a cut-scene. Just the fact that people run so much in this country makes it seem game-like. They really want to get: to school, or work, or on the train, or across the street. I think that people in America would much rather risk getting hit by a car/hold up traffic, that sprint across the street in a business suit or high heels. But I'm not sure, I myself have to problem with running.
Anyways you're walking. In many places there are those capsule toys, arcades, and there are vending machines everywhere. These all remind me of games. Let's talk about vending machines. Many many games including shenmu, half life/cs, ff7 (right?), have made use of vending machines during game-play in one way or another. This is cheating because the games were trying to be lifelike, and now i'm saying that seeing them irl is game-like, but still.. it is? You rarely go to a restaurant, wait, order, eat, pay, and leave in a game. Also the act of putting a coin into a machine and then hitting the button is some what similar to playing an arcade game anyway. Also, if you obtain the SUICA card, you are able to make purchases without the use of coins, simply by using the magnet strip that is built into the card.

ok ok, i really should have planned out how i was going to do this better.
but yeah, you enter school.
-Yo, I just got out of my club activity. (says some NPC that looks very stereotypical such that they should be in said club)
-what are you doing here?
-a guarantor you say? try asking the man named Nakayama in building 2.

ok, easy enough.

-Yep, that's me, yes i think you should be able to get a guarantor... at that desk over there. Let me show you.
in-game cinimatic.

-hey guys, whats up?
-hmm let me take a look at your papers. I'll get my supervisor.

-hello i'm the supervisor.
-an exchange student you say?
-oh a Jasso scholar? congratulations
-and you have enough money to pay for the apartment?
-great then its settled! kano will explain what to do next

-yes, my name is kano, here is our insurance policy, please go to the real estate agent and see if this statement is ok.

unfortunately there is no teleport, i don't even get a steed (i have a hunch you may get one in late game though, which would be sick). so you walk, and ride the train, and go to the real estate agency.

-oh yes, this would work fine, have the man named kano fill out these forms. you best wait till tomorrow though, why don't you get some rest at the weekly mansion?

now, if you try to go to school without resting, you may find the doors unopenable.
while walking out of the real estate building you accidentally hit the action button and engage in conversation again.

-oh yes, this would work fine, have the man named kano fill out these forms. you best wait till tomorrow though, why don't you get some rest at the weekly mansion?

if you ever thought that NPC's saying the exact same thing over and over, it may be that you have just never been to Japan. Also. there are cases where you have to talk to them 7 times before you get what you were looking for and the plot can advance, no joke. so its never a bad idea to keep talking to people if you get stuck.

so you sleep, things happen, you go back to the school and talk to Kano.

-Great, that is great news isn't it. So now I can be the guarantor, just take this paper to the POST OFFICE, show them your ID CARD, and pay $76. They POST OFFICE is near the NORTH ENTRANCE. see you soon!

ok, i can handle this. walk around talking to ppl till you find the post office. take a number, buy the insurance. take it back to Kano.

-Great, here I'll sign that!

take the stuff back to the real estate place.

-Ok now you just have to sign these forms. Wait. Do you not have the magic red stamping HANKO? please go to the store 21 HANKO to purchase a HANKO. come back when you have it.
-What? you don't have a HANKO? I can't help you.
-You need a HANKO, try 21 HANKO, its to the West of here.

yes, what is legally binding in my village is not quite good enough here in tokyo.

-hello
-You say you want a HANKO?
You look strange. where did you get those clothes? you aren't from around here are you?
Oh really? your from the over there? we don't get many customers from over the sea.
What is your name?
-Bazubi you say? Strange name, I'll do my best.
-It's not ready yet, come back tomorrow at 1.
-It's not ready yet, come back tomorrow at 1.

So time to do other things, maybe go to the market and see if you can find ingredients for dinner. but you go back the next day and get the HANKO and go back to the real estate office.

-great! you brought back the HANKO, you can sign these forms now.
-What? you can't read them? oh I see...
-Sorry I can't help you, you must find a person with the TRANSLATE ability.
-Go find someone with the TRANSLATE ability, good luck!

ok. so. i'm getting tired just typing this boring story, but I did all of this so...
luckily you only have to find someone who can translate a form like that, which is rare, if you want to know what it says. Instead I took it to Nakayama from building 2 and he gave me the gist and said it didn't seem too sketchy.
so I take it to Kano, and tell him that they want him to look at the forms, since he is the guarantor.
but wait...
-you want me to be guarantor, oh let me begin to tell you about all the things you must do before i can do that.
-what's that you already did all that stuff? let me check my files
-oh right, ok. lets see. there papers look fine, where is the thing i need to sign?
-let me call the real estate office
...
-yes you need to give me another form, you didn't bring it you fool, come back when you have the form.

greeaaat. go get the form.
go back to school the next day (even though there is no class)

-ah yes, its you from before. ok. i'll just sign that in 4 seconds, that was easy.

so you go back to the real estate place.
-oh that's funny, we already had that paper.
(i think the game designer thought it would be funny if i had to make those couple extra useless trips)
-just stamp sign and date these 12 boxes, and.. ok we're good to go.

ok, come back with your roommate SOKY on SUNDAY and we'll give you a tour.



wasn't that fun? i think the joke was originally that you they ask you to go back and forth question for useless items before you get what you really wanted in the first place, but it ended up being less funny and more tiresome.. which is symbolic of actually living through such experiences, of which there are many here in Japan.

I have to go to shorinji now. ttyl

Class was fun

I went to shorinji kenpo class today, and enjoyed it quite a bit. For the first hour or so we warmed up and I worked on basics with the other new comer. Then the second hour I watched sparring. The third hour we moved down into the Judo room, and I progressed just a little farther in the basics. After class had officially ended I stuck around a bit and ordered a gi. I got the expensive kind and some of the people seemed to be in disbelief. but i like gis, i don't spend too much money on any other hobbies, and it wasn't that much more expensive, so i think it was a reasonable decision. After thaaat.. I sat around a bit and then this former sophia student, who apparently hadn't been to class for a year or so, asked me if there was anything I wanted to practice or learn. I told him that I wanted to learn shorinji's throws, and he actually showed me a few things. It was really cool, cause for the most part I just punch the air working on my basics. The stuff I did with him was very similar to danzan ryu, and I picked it up pretty quickly. He was a really cool guy too, apparently he was a elementary/junior high teacher for a couple years, but his body was getting into poor shape so he joined the army? That's one way to solve the problem huh. Hopefully he'll actually be showing from time to time, cause I feel like he could really be one of my teachers... since he is willing to teach me. There are a couple others too though, so I will learn in any case. I'd like to hang out with some of them more often, but everyone lives so far away from school, and in many directions, so it may be difficult to arrange.

next time. why japan is so similar to a bad video game.

My Sickness

I started feeling less than satisfactory last Sunday. The night before I had played basketball until the wee hours of night, I was a bit dehydrated, and was tired from a combination of short and long term lack of sleep. I think some combination of these factors led to me getting a sickness that included headache, body-ache, fever, and various digestive problems. I also ate some lamb curry for lunch, and that may have had something to do with it. But I'm almost better now. I feel much better, but my stomach is still bothering me a bit. I still went to all of my classes but 1, though it was difficult to pay attention at times.
But, feeling better, i went to shorinji today and it was fun, and i'll go again tomorrow (saturday), from 3 to 6. I started a notebook that i'm pretty satisfied with, i hope to practice in my free time so that I can move through the basics at a good pace.
I have a couple more things to write about, but I'll leave them for another time.

Things about daily life

I'm watching Arrested Development right now. My roommate is watching it for the first time, but this is my second/third in the last couple months, depending on which episode. It is way funnier this time though. I highly recommend watching it a second time.
Tomorrow I'm going to go watch the Shorinji Kempo club compete. I'm pretty excited. I know that at least 3 of them have a pretty good chance of winning. I think I'm going to try to start going to both shorinji and judo, hopefully I can improve my martial arts abilities a bit while i'm over here.
Tonight at 11:30 I'm meeting the Denny's crew for some basketball, that should be fun too. They are good people.
I started playing millia in guilty gear xx ac. i'm getting pretty decent, but maybe i'll try someone stronger.
Tonight we made really good food. I should have taken pictures. We made ground beef which we wrapped in lettuce along with some cheese, olives, mint leaves, and sour mikan juice. We also had some boiled carrots and broccoli. Yay, food. Yesterday we (mostly soky) made chicken tacos for his friend keiko. We are both looking forward to the new place so that we can have more people over more comfortably and have a legitimate cooking space.
I still haven't completely decided which classes to take. But I need to do that by Tuesday.
Living in this small area has actually been going really well. We aren't spending too much on rent, and we also buy food together, and cook it, so it's not too expensive. And we are keeping the room pretty clean. I'm a bit surprised really.
Hmmmmmm... I can't think of what else to write about.. but I'll attempt to post more often.

School

I have mixed feelings, so far, about Sophia. I was placed in a Japanese class below where I thought I should be, but I was able to move up with out too much fuss, surprisingly. The teacher that was there on Tuesday was really good too, so that was nice. But for my non-Japanese classes, none of the teachers have been too interesting. One econ class had a somewhat energetic, so I'll probably take it. But I tried out about 5 other classes and they were all pretty terrible. I'm going to try out a history of western civilization class today and see how that goes. If its good I'll change one of my intl studies tracks to history instead of Japanese studies.

Let' see, I've also tried Aikido and Judo, the Aikido kids weren't to sharp, but the Judo club seemed like a good option. Today I'm going to try shorinji kenpo, which looked really cool when I watched a couple days ago. Other than that I may also drop into a Shogi club and or Music circle on Friday to see if I want to try one of those as well. So the campus and clubs and Japanese classes are all good, but the other classes aren't so stellar. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer the credits for my major, at least.