Random Bullets of...Stuff, I Guess

1) Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It was very sweet of you all who dropped a line, I appreciate it very much.

2) I just submitted School D. Oh my god, finishing that one was killer - an hour and a half to figure out one final sentence!

3) I am not so sure I want to go to School D anymore. Not because it is far (heck, School E is right across the road so to speak in the same 'hood) but because I was looking at the J-History profs and they aren't in line with what I am researching. I am preparing myself for a rejection from them. No problem by me (I sorta like School E if I HAD to choose between the schools. Plus, School E is closer to a city :::cough cough - civilization - cough cough:::. Being near a metropolitan area is important to me - I don't want to get cabin fever. School D is near the same city but you need a car more.)

4) Lotsa knitting done. I also had two hours before class because I finished my midterm (See number 4) and took a nap. As well as knitted. Will put up a more dedicated knitting post later.

As such, most of the madness is over. I have Yo-Yo Ma playing non-stop, apartment is a mess, laundry isn't done, but it's all ok.

If I Just....BREAAAATHE

I just submitted my first grad school application, School C. I just also realized that I sent my supplementary materials to the History Department as opposed to the Grad School Admissions Office - some schools want the actual department, some schools want the admissions office. I bet I wouldn't be the first one, and it's there already so I know they probably noticed what was up. So I will call them tonight (when it is Friday morning).

Thing is, the deadlines are weird: I didn't know if I qualify under the Non North-American deadline (December 1, which is a Saturday so December 3) because I am in Japan, or the North American deadline, since I am a US Citizen, I am just living abroad. Just to cover my arse, I submitted it today, 10pm EST, November 29. A good 4 days before the deadline for NNA.

I just got the congratulatory email, that I successfully completed the application. Congratulatory, my bum. I get email notification on whether or not I got in my March 15.

MARCH 15. Three and a half MONTHS. Oh, jeez I am going to have a heart attack by then - if I am in the Philippines in the end of February, you can bet I am going to nag The Aussie everyday to take me to an internet cafe. That, or let my sister check my email for me.

Next: School B and School F. Then tomorrow, Schools D, and E.

I added another school at the last minute, which is in the same city as School A as another safety. Prof. L. submitted his rec letter for it and I Prof. O's letter in hand so I figured why not, might as well since I have all the materials for it. So in terms of hierarchy, it is above School G (and is in the same city as School A, you can tell I REALLY want to stay in the tri-state area) but because it's a last minute addition (deadline is Dec 12 so I am all good actually) it is School H.

Final count: 8 grad schools. I really, never EVER want to know how much I paid for all this: transcript requests, mailings, fees (I applied for a waiver for School C let's see what happens), etc. etc.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Sutoresu!!! Sutoresu!!!

Stress!!! Stress!!!

This is what I get for procrastinating. However, being in Japan means I am 14 hours ahead of the United States (at least the East Coast and that part of the Great Lakes that is on EST), which works for me because:

It means I have an extra day for the grad school materials to arrive on time in the States.

I am such a procrastinator. I wait till the week before the first round of grad apps are due (this weekend, exactly) to submit the stuff in the mail. granted it was via EMS, Japan's version of Global Priority, and according to BOTH the Japanese and English websites it will get to the States in two days.

I go to the post office and mail my stuff. Then I ask for confirmation. In Japan I always double check in case I missed something; I may ask the same question 3 times in 3 different ways but it has worked so far.

"Well, it is the holidays, so it could take maybe a week."

A week? WHAT holidays? The country isn't even Christian! Christmas was imported after WW2 for crying out loud and turned into a couple's holiday! (Which is why I hate Christmas in Japan even more. Mel isn't here and everyone and their mother on Shijo is holding hands.)

I freak out. All day. Couldn't do alot of work on my essays. I meet up with Prof. S. before class and he asks how I'm doing, and I tell him what's going on. He told me to not worry. Given Prof. S's experience, I trust his answer. So I am not freaking out so much.

At least EMS has tracking numbers. As of 1:15am Japan time on 11/26 (lunchtime EST 11/25) it was at the Osaka Int'l Post Office. I am guessing it will be on a plane by the end of today.

I can only hope.

I did finish the academic essay for schools E and F.

"No Worries"

I was looking at my ticket receipt last night for Australia, when I started freaking out.

I only have one hour and 10 minutes between planes. One hour and 10 minutes to go through customs, possibly get my baggage, and re-check. I then looked up the Brisbane Airport and discovered to my dismay that I need to take an AirTrain between the domestic and international terminals because they are THREE kilometers apart.

Oh, crap. Is it enough time?

I tried to reassure myself, (and my mom tried to reassure me over Skype) saying that I had an hour and a half in Detroit to go through that mess known as US Immigration and Customs (even the US Citizen/Permanent resident line took forever!) and had to get my luggage, re-check, and go back through security. I professed my worry to The Aussie, whose response was not particularly helpful: "I told you that the Brisbane Airport was big" (he of course, has an intimate relationship with BNE since that was his local airport).

Gee thanks. I love The Aussie and all, but seriously? Right at that time men sucked. After some more minutes of conversation, I began to really freak out, thinking that I am going to miss my flight, etc. etc. If I miss my flight, I miss the bus to Canberra.

Plus, I learned that the maximum amount allowed as carry-on is 15lbs total. Either I was going to pack really, really light (thank god there is free laundry in Canberra) or I was going to miss my plane. I think I might leave my laptop behind. Ringo may be pretty light compared to the clunkers that my friends have, but it will weigh me down.

This morning, I called JetStar in Australia via Skype, knowing full well I will not get the specific information via the Japan line as easily and as quickly. Apparently, I didn't have the specific JetStar reservation number so I would have to call back later. This was at 9:30am. JTB (the travel agency I used) opens at 11:00am. It was one of those times that I really wished things were like NYC and open either at 9 or 10am. I STILL forget that the shops (except for the department stores) open at 11 as opposed to 10.

At 11:01, I called JTB. After explaining twice in Japanese, the lady told me she will look up the number and call me back. I got the number in less than 5 minutes, and called Australia again.

Good news - my flights are "thru," which means when I check-in in Osaka, I have also checked-in for my flight from BNE to SYD. Also, my luggage will go between the planes so that means I don't have to pick them up and check them in again, like I had to do in Detroit. But I am still thinking of just going with a carry-on (I will call again like a week before just to double-double check). If I do check-in my bag, it means that I can bring my laptop, but I really don't want to lug it around. Alisa pointed out that I can still tweak my presentation, but it's excess weight.

Honestly, I have no qualms running through an airport. It wouldn't be the first time (when I had known Ingram less than 24 hours, I convinced him to run through Narita in Tokyo so that we could make our connecting flight to Osaka on time).

More good news: I got the confirmation from Wake Up! Sydney - 4 Share Dorm, Female Only. Another good thing about it is that while they do take your credit card for the reservation, it's only for reservation purposes; I will pay in cash there (phew). Very happy, though I think I messed up on the number of nights that I was going to stay. I don't like it when they ask for the check-in date and the number of nights as opposed to the specific dates - it can lead to mistakes. So I counted off my fingers - yes, 2/2 to 2/7 is 5 nights, not 6 - and e-mailed them back, telling them sorry made a mistake, and these are my dates.

"No worries," was part of the reply. How cool - they actually do say "no worries" in Australia, and it's not some Crocodile Dundee thing. Mel not only hides his accent (it only comes out after a tipple and when he gives speeches/presentations) he doesn't say "no worries."

All that's left is to email Mel's mum to let her know when I am going to Sydney so she can email the family friends and let them know that the DIL is coming. They might take me around for a day. Also need to email this professor I know who is at a uni in Sydney - we met last year at a conference, so it would be cool to meet up, if only for a bit.

When I return to Japan, it is going to be very interesting (but I am being sarcastic here). They just implemented mandatory fingerprinting like the US. But unlike the US, even permanent residents (except those "special permanent residents") and those who are on visas and have the gajin card (like me) get fingerprinted. According to the news, travelers are fine by it, but a lot of the foreign residents are not happy.

It's Just One of Those Days (Where Ya Don't Wanna Get Up)

Ugh. I had such a crazy morning.

My goal was to get my plane ticket to Australia. I needed to get the documentation for my reimbursement down to Canberra by November 30th and wanted to get it ASAP. I had a sinking feeling that I was running out of time.

Turns out, I actually was running out of time. Because of the snafu regarding my arrival date into the dorms in Canberra, I was actually going to get in one day earlier. Add to the fact that I really couldn't do that cheaper plane ticket via Hong Kong because the time between arrival in Sydney and departure for Canberra was too tight, and I was running out of options.

An hour's worth of searching at the Co-op travel agency led to a ticket that was 177,000yen. About $1700. My heart was falling, and I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to go to Australia.

&*%^$>.

Seriously.

So, with all abandon and muttering curses under my breath (at least I wasn't cursing in Greek, that would mean that it was REALLY bad), I left the co-op, got on my bike and hightailed it to the JTB on Sanjo. I got there in 15 minutes. My heart was pounding and I seriously was not exactly on the verge of tears, but I could willingly turn on the waterworks if I wanted to.

I go to the desk, and begin my search with the agent again. A ticket via Seoul came up, 100,000yen (about $1000USD). Woo-hoo!

Or...maybe not.

The flight from Seoul to Sydney was booked.

SERIOUSLY! Is everyone and their mother in Asia going to Sydney on January 27!

I offhandedly mentioned (in Japanese, of course) to the agent that I was there on Saturday and there was a ticket via JetStar, this Australian airline that is like Qantas. The agent got back to the computer, and typed away. At this point I was just thinking, "Oh feckit (or at least a bit more coarsely), I will just get the ticket even if it is $1700, pay in cash and put the rest on my card." (We can't use credit cards in the Co-op. Weird).

She takes the paper that had the Korea flights on it, and writes something on it:

1/27, KIX-->SYD 21:20-11:00 (1/28)
2/7, SYD-->KIX 12:00-20:00

Total: 101,000yen.
With taxes: 130,470yen.

Oh. Thank. God.

I hightailed it back to the library at the study abroad program that I am the CA for (because I have access to the wireless internet and a printer) and made my reservation for Wake Up! in Sydney. Printed out all necessary documentation for getting my reimbursement, and to prove to my teachers that yes, I am presenting at a conference. Last thing is to get confirmation for Wake Up! and to get my bus tickets ($30AUD total, not bad at all) to and from Canberra.

In fact, when I go to Australia on 1/27, I am making a connection in Brisbane, Mel's neck of the woods. Bit sad. But, I am only going to see the airport.

I ended up skipping the first half of my afternoon class because by that time I still hadn't eaten lunch, and I was not up for a cold sandwich. It's cold today! I wanted nabeyaki udon. So, I also skipped the first half of grammar too. But I did go to the second half and explained to my teacher (she is really cool) that I had to get my ticket today and I was having a hard time. Gave her the letter from the conference people, and a letter from me stating that I am going to be out of Japan during finals period. No problem. I take my exam February 8.

I am on my way!

My Attempts at Spellcasting are Misfiring

So I got the infamous PDF file lurking on the net and read through the whole thing. But I think its bogus - its the whole book apparently in 398 pages, but in reality the book is 750+. Fishy. So I lose on that account...either the book was an early draft, or seriously abridged...or maybe the text for the abridged audiobook.

Which leads me to a uber Homer Simpson "DOH!" remark.

I could have just ordered and downloaded the book as an audiobook from iTunes. Or get it off Limewire, I'll bet its on there now. But I won't. Geez...I just checked iTunes now and it's not even available there.

Two more weeks, till I get my hands on the Potter. But I already know who dies for the most part.

I REALLY wish I had a wand now - I would totally Accio Mel's copy, but that hasn't even arrived by UPS yet at this time! He has his hands now on one of Leah's copies.

Potter-Palooza!!! Where's My Wand At?

BAH!!!!

Seriously!

AAAHHH....

Libby got most of the deal down over at her blog, but seriously, the Potter is that important, I need to give my own 20yen (=2 cents) on the issue, 6000 miles away - or rather, at least 3000 miles from the closest bookstore in the United States.

I am buying into Potter-mania. Not only does my sister, Leah have her hands on the bittorrent file that is circulating throughout the web...

I COULD HAVE ORDERED THE AMERICAN VERSION FROM AMAZON JAPAN AND HAVE IT BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE!!!

I tried to not give into the Potter. But I cannot help it. Why, oh WHY did I not think of going to Amazon Japan? Boo. Fark, bloody, fark. Pfft.

Of course, I am not going to do it now, since between Mel and Leah there will be three copies - Leah gets two because she has two sets: first edition set and reading set. Good thing too - her number 4 is literally in more than 20 pieces because she read it so much...

...AAAHHH, I am going to KILL Elisa, she just told me RIGHT NOW that one of my favorite bands Lifehouse is going to be at the Borders in Time Warner Center for their Potter-palooza.

Seethe...seethe...

Must.Calm.Down.

It's just a damn book after all. But the whole Potter-palooza is so much fun! And I am missing out on it. How can I miss out on this when it's the final book?!?!?

Stupid tests. I can't even place an order on Amazon Japan right now because I have a test on Monday. And after that it's just pointless - I can wait.

But I'll bet that by the time I get home, I would have the book practically read to me - but then after my test, I can read the first 498 pages guilt-free via that torrent file. I KNOW that is really bad of me, but I am in dire straights here! If I am going to have the end ruined for me within the next 72 hours, I might as well read the first 2/3 of it, even through illegal channels. What people will do for the Potter.

And now, Mel really sucks. He is finishing work for the day at 11am, and going downtown to check on the "festivities" for Potter. Apparently, there is a triple-decker purple Knight Bus at the Scholastic store in SoHo. He isn't going to midnight Potter-palooza but getting it from Amazon. Leah is getting one copy from B&N, and her "first edition" copy from Books of Wonder, an independent children's bookstore, where she will get her number 7 and number 3 signed by Mary GrandPre, the book cover illustrator. Back in 2005, she was in Florida at #6 Potter-palooza, but Mel and I got #4,5 & 6 signed for her since she was absentee.

See what a good elder sister and future brother-in-law we are? And what do I get now? Mel at least gets his hands on the book by 10am (or its free according to Amazon), I get spoilers, illegal torrents, no party and in the words of my Auntie Sophie, "Bupkis!"

And then Mel will be laughing at me over Skype, teasing me about what will happen; and then when I find out what does happen, Leah and I will go into "deep discussion" over the subject matter, and then I have to ask her even MORE questions on WTF happened because obviously I haven't read it yet. Case in point: I found her on Skype at 3am NYC time Friday morning and she told me about the torrent file. She was actually reading it - bad girl but I guess I could tell that she was really excited about it. We then got into conversation about R.A.B. and other interesting tidbit which I hadn't realized.

Pfft...I KNOW I could get it to read on the plane, but then my jet-lag would be horrible. I am just going to make Mel bring it to the airport so I can read it the minute I arrive. I can just imagine the scene:

Me: I missed you! :::hug::: Please tell me you brought the book, I need to finish it!

At least I will have the first 498 pages done. And I am a fast reader (I devour books practically); if there is traffic from Newark coming home, I can bet you I will have the next 100-200 pages done by the time I get home. To which I will say hello to my parents, Leah, hug the cats, and lock myself in my room and leave my luggage in the middle of the living room floor, jet lag or no jet lag.

Can't I just cast "Accio Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows"?

Of People Watching and Red-Light Districts

Unfortunately, Kukhee couldn’t make it for the dinner that she, Jessica and I planned to have due to a cold. She missed out!

I got to Shinjuku a bit early because I wanted to check out Yodobashi Camera for the electronic dictionaries. I am pissed – the English focused ones have the crappy koku-go (Japanese-Japanese, think the Japanese version of the Oxford English dictionary) dictionary. I might just get the model that Prof. S. had – it may be old but it had Oxford, the good Koku-go dictionary and it’s cheap, so I can pimp it out with all the add on dictionaries.

After my futile trip to Yodobashi Camera, I still had about an hour; so I wandered around Studio Alta for a bit. Studio Alta is like OPA– big shopping mall designated for young women with a load of worthless crap. I did get a nice dark green beaded necklace, however; “normal” things are hard to find on a regular basis. Then I sat down outside JR Shinjuku station and people-watched for about 45 minutes.

Ah, people watching. Great thing to do when you are in a strange city; you really get a sense of the culture. Mind you, I am speaking with a slightly sarcastic and caustic tone here – the people watching in Shinjuku was ESPECIALLY interesting, mostly because my internal reaction mainly consisted of me saying “WTF?!?!” a lot, hence the sarcastic and caustic tone. First you had the homeless people that stole cigarette butts off the ground next to you and screaming at everyone else. Eh, fine that is something I see back home.

What you DEFINITELY do not see in NYC is this:

1) Japanese girls with orange skin + orange makeup and orange hair. And that is not ganguro (link on ganguro) – its just overly tan to the point of leather. Much worse than back in the States. Or girls with 4-inch heels and 2-inch shorts.
2) Japanese men with Louis Vuitton WOMEN’S HANDBAGS. Especially the Speedy style. Seriously, WTF?!?!?! I even saw a guy with the Hermes mini Grace Kelly bag. That guy is making a woman wait for 6 months on a Hermes waiting list, now that is just WRONG!
3) Said Japanese men actually accosting young women. I saw this in Kyoto as well (link to previous post); but here, I counted maybe 15 guys just loitering around the exit of JR Shinjuku, waiting for young women so that they can try to get them to the hostess bars or work at hostess bars. And later I realized why: Kabuki-cho, the red light district in Tokyo, was across the street from JR Shinjuku. The girls fell into one of several categories – very skinny, tan, sky-high heels, crazy orange hair and that particular Japanese style. Even “normal” looking girls were accosted, even right to the corner of the street. I estimated the distance from the exit to the street at about 10-20 meters. Maybe 30-60 seconds of hearing some asshole shorter and skinner than you trying to get you to a hostess bar. And they are bloody persistent!

I had dinner with Jessica and some of her friends – including her research assistant, Kazu – at this izakaya that actually ripped us off. Live and learn; I had this sinking feeling earlier that there wasn’t going to be much food at dinner so I just munched all day, hence the Mochi Cream from earlier.

We all wanted to do puri-kura, or the photo stickers after dinner. We actually ended up in Kabuki-cho; in spite of it being the red light district so long as you are not a pretty Japanese girl it’s fine. It’s just a lot of hostess bars, Karaoke and pachinko or game parlors.

What we all didn’t expect to end up doing was wait with a bunch of obaa-sans for this Japanese celebrity that is overly airbrushed in his promo photos to the point of looking like Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. Creepy.
We passed by a LONG line of middle-aged women and we all pressed on Kazu to ask them why they were waiting. Said Japanese celebrity is Enka singer “Kiyoshi” – Enka is a form of cheesy old-school Japanese music that is popular back in the 50s, according to Jessica. The obaasans gave us flyers with his face plastered over them; when the 5 of us started goofing off with the flyers, the obaa-sans joined in and asked us to take photos of us with them and the Kiyoshi flyers. Some of the women were holding these wands that light up – I actually went up to one women who had two (red and blue with a star and a heart) and asked her, “Those wands are so adorable, is it ok if I borrow them quickly and take a picture?” The woman – and all the others – were actually really happy that gaijin were interested in Kiyoshi; frankly, it was just all good fun. Out of the 5 of us, Jessica, Jay and I were the foreigners (Kazu brought her fried Yuki and Jay along) but Jay is Chinese so Jessica and I looked the most “foreign.”

While we were waiting, I took in the sights that was Kabuki-Cho: right across the street from us, there was a blinking billboard that advertised services by women for men. In fact earlier, I saw one of those places as well with a sign on the door that said in very big English letters, “Japanese ONLY!” I had heard of these signs before, but to finally see one was really interesting. Because of the shadiness that is Kabuki-Cho, Shinjuku has some problems with foreigners; good to know I learned something useful at the conference.

Being really “foreign-looking” sure had its payoff that evening! We were waiting and waiting and at one point I had to go to the bathroom; Yuki, Kazu and I ran to the closest pachinko parlor to use the bathroom. Luckily Kiyoshi hadn’t driven by yet. We all decided to wait till about 9:30; lo and behold, at 9:30 on the dot, a relative roar began to reach us. Kiyoshi had arrived!

There was security and middle aged men telling us to not take pictures with our cameras, Kiyoshi’s car was passing right by us. The window was just almost rolled all the way up when I saw him – he was carrying one of those wand things, except his was purple. Then for a fleeting moment our eyes met and he did the biggest double-take in the world – like “OMG, she is a FORIEGNER!” I wasn’t the only one that saw this; Jessica solidly confirmed that she got the same reaction when he saw her.

The Hardest Things to Find are Right Under Your Nose

Japanese Lesson #14: "Rude Japanese Edition"
1) Baka - "stupid, idiot, fool"
2) Kuso - the bad way to say "poop"

Note: depending on context, emphasis and accent, these can mean much much worse things.

On Thursday, I had such a big break in between my two classes that I decided to go to the library. Japanese class finished at 10:30, and my grad seminar didn't start until 4:20. Talk about a long break. I finally got my ID earlier, and headed off to the library to check it out and figure out what to do since I did not bring a book with me to read. I ended up sleeping during most of my break, but I did find a book that I needed in Japanese for my research.

I was using my messenger bag along with my books as a pillow. One thing about Japanese students is that they really zonk out in the library, more than back home, I think. But my messenger bag has just one big pocket and two little pockets on the side, but I never use those, so all of my little stuff (iPod, cell, keys, pens, etc.) always slides about and falls out sometimes. So I just reorganized my crap and went to sleep. The library was cozy and warm, and the seats were mega comfy.

After, I went to class and figured that while my grad class would be hell in some ways, it would be an interesting challenge. After class, I walk down the hill to the bus stop, where I had a sinking feeling that I was missing something. Usually when I have those feelings, its almost true. I go into my back and check for the usual suspects: Nintendo DS, iPod, cell, wallet, chapstick (I don't like the Japanese stuff) - keys. Where are my keys?

WHERE THE HELL ARE MY KEYS?

I dump all my stuff on the ground at the bus stop and I search for my keys. Amongst the kimchi-smell-laden bag (it's gone now thank god, that's my Jack Spade messenger bag!) I see the bright orange interior, but no keys.

OH $%*#&!.

I turn around and practically run back up the hill. On my way, I call Ingram on my cell phone (man this is going to be one heckuva cell phone bill this month) and since he lives in the same 'hood as I do, I asked him if he could go to my building and see if my landlord was there. I then start retracing my steps.

Little shop of cute stuff on the way to school: no keys.
Building where I had grad seminar: no keys.
Building where I had Japanese class: no keys.
Building where I printed some articles: no keys.

Damn, Rits is a big campus.

I run into Ulyana at this point, who helpfully points out that there is an Information Center where I can leave a note - she did this when she lost her keys (but luckily found them on the sidewalk on the way home). Unfortunately, this wasn't the case anymore.

Go to co-op: no keys.
Go to area outside co-op where I sat: no keys.

I begin to panic at this point. I KNEW that they weren't in the Student Union, where I went to the Classical Music Club (Hogakubu) earlier, because I was 110% sure that I did not even open my bag; I did not have my koto picks or my music book so there was no reason for me to open my bag.

Library. I go to the front desk, who directed me to the media lab, and yes I was there earlier that day; otherwise, I would have forgotten. No keys. No keys at the Lost and Found of the library front desk either.

Ingram calls me back: says that my landlord wasn't there, but he got the cell number and I asked him for the number of the company that runs my building. So I call the cell first, but no answer. Good thing too - I almost forgot that in emergencies I call Space Sapiens (the company that runs my building), not my landlord. It's a funky sort of operation, but it works. I just give the rent to my landlord in person.

So, I say bye to Ulyana and call Space Sapiens. The person on the phone was the same guy who I met during the shower drain fiasco; told him my name, the apartment building name and my apartment number and said I lost my keys. I was told that I could get a new one that same night. For 10,500yen, or 105 dollars. We will meet at 8pm outside my apartment building.

Oh, bloody hell. DAMMIT. BAKA! KUSO!

So I was cursing at myself in English, Greek and Japanese for being stupid enough to not a) separate my bike keys (there are two for a reason) so now my bike was stuck at Kyoto Uni (I ride my bike to the northern end of the main campus and park it there, it's right next to the bus stop) and b) for not even thinking about making a spare copy of my apartment key.

I was also mad at myself because my keychains had some sentimental value: I have a "Mister Softee" keychain (because my dad owns a Mister Softee ice cream truck and thus he is our own "Mister Softee"), a keychain that was handmade in London from a friend, and a Fordham keychain in the shape of a mini pennant with the Ram logo and "Queens" on it (Deena got it for me when I was in London during a Commuter Students Association event where there were keychains for all the regions that the commuters come from).

And I was mad because I had to pay $105 for a damn key. Sad, frustrated, and angry, I blast off a bunch of text messages and head off to the bus again. By the time I got on the bus at 7pm, I realized that it would be pretty late for Skype-ing my parents as our usual custom since my mom leaves for work by 7am-ish, so I resorted to the back-up system: emailing her via cell so that way she knows what is up.

The MINUTE I press the "send" button, I had a lightbulb moment - literally, you know in the cartoons where the lightbulb turns on above the head to indicate an idea? I place my bag in front of me, opened the smaller of the two zippered pockets and put my hand inside.

I pull out my keys. All 5 of them (2 are suitcase lock keys) on all 3 keychains. I call up the guy from Space Sapiens and let him know that I found my keys, and confirmed that I didn't have to get the new key and pay the $105, since I caught him before he left for my building.

And then I started to curse in Greek, English and Japanese again, chiding myself for being so stupid. I had put my keys in that particular pocket because at the library, the smaller things were slipping out and my keys were almost irreplaceable.

Everytime someone in my family loses something, I am the one that usually finds it because I go by the mantra "the hardest things to find are under your nose." And I usually find the thing that is missing within 15 minutes, 20 max. Too bad I couldn't take my own medicine so quickly, since it took about an hour to find it.

Silence is Bliss

Some things need to be clarified. I had mentioned that the elections for the House of Councilors are happening this summer, and that the megaphone trucks are blaring up the wazoo.

Well, they weren't blaring for the elections in July. They were blaring for the local elections that were going on everywhere in Japan. And THANK GOD that they were not going crazy for the July elections - I would have no peace. Four more months of overly caffeinated white gloved candidates and their minions yelling into megaphones? I was practically ready to tear my hear out with the past week of "campaigning" that I and everyone else had to hear.

Over the course of the past few days, electioneering (if that is a word) was pushed into overdrive. No matter where you went in Kyoto you would hear some lady's overly-chirpy voice or a man's deep, gruff old-school voice (think old samurai movies) squawking into a megaphone contraption the size of a car's roof that was attached to the top of said car which was very tiny (as is everything else here in Japan) that made it look like Bozo the Clown's vehicle. Don't get me started if two cars from opposing parties or opposing politicians crossed paths; they would stop, and a contest of who could yell out the candidates name plus "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" louder ensued.

In the beginning it was quite funny - one of the quirks of the Japanese election process. I thought it was comical how people conducted themselves with so much gusto and zeal that anyone could see at almost any time of day, and that you didn't have to pay $2000 a plate at a fundraiser to see a candidate, or that you didn't need to fall upon a scheduled meet-and-greet to see said candidate.

But over the past few days, it was getting to the point of noise pollution. The cars would drive through the narrow and twisting streets of quiet neighborhoods, disturbing the peace and waking me up from my afternoon nap; I could hear them CLEARLY in spite of the fact that my apartment is in the back of the building and situated away from the street. If one complained or yells out "urusai" ("Noisy!" - in a bad way) he or she can actually get arrested for election obstruction.

So you can imagine my delight this evening when I realized something: I had not heard or seen any of those stupid cars and their overly-peppy white gloved occupants.

Oh, silence is bliss.

Oh, For the Love of the Japanese Language!

Disclaimer: You might want to read the entry before this one in order to understand the craziness I am writing of below.

The afternoon was gorgeous, so I went to Heian Jingu (the topic of another post about cherry blossom madness). Afterwards, I had some green tea/vanilla swirl ice cream, and started to head back to my apartment.

My bike had other ideas, though. Before I realized it, I was passing by the intersection of Marutamachi-Higashioji and heading to the Kamo River, making a left and going down to Sanjo.

My destinations were Ogawa and Meidi-ya. I had spoken of Ogawa Coffee before: they make REALLY REALLY good coffee and their coffee beans are better than Starbucks. I got some of the strong blend coffee for my new (free!) French Press as I had run out of the blah stuff I got from Starbucks. I swear, I plan to come home with a kilo of that coffee - the Ogawa Strong Blend that is.

Meidi-ya is a foriegn import food store. Some of the stuff if priced ok and the other stuff (meat, bread, veggies) are atrociously priced. They have good whole wheat crackers, Canada Dry Ginger Ale and the Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. However, those cookies are my downfall (when I had my craving for pizza, I proceeded to eat a half a bag of them orange flavored ones) I don't get those.

I parked my bike at Starbucks, and spoke to Mame-chan (he is a bird at the bean/cracker store next to Starbucks, speaks Japanese and English with a Japanese accent). My phone began to dance - it is VERY rude in Japan to have it on the ring in public places. Consequently, I always miss my calls and get to my messages way later. But I am getting better at noticing the vibrations.

It was Ristumeikan (:::cue the collective sighs, seriously I have so many issues in terms of them driving me up the amn wall because there is NO INFRASTRUCTURE to deal with students like me:::).

Get a load of THIS! I either did poorly enough deliberately, or I did well enough to not be in the two higher levels, but I am not in Lower Intermediate (probably Intermediate I at Kyodai which is what I did last semester, since both Kyodai and Rits have three levels of intermediate, then one of Advanced) - I am in regular Intermediate!

But blah, what about the Kyodai classes that I happily signed up for and was going to take the placement test next Friday?

Well, I did something rather stupid - I tried to tell the person (same one that called me about the placement test earlier this week) that well, I can also take classes at Kyodai, can I take the placement test and then decide? Bad move on me; I KNEW that in American standards I was pushing the envelope. In terms of Japanese standards, I pretty much did something very taboo.

In essence, I had to decide that-very-minute for either Rits or Kyodai. I was kinda flustered, so I said I will call her in 10 minuted. I then calld Colleen who said, "Well, you can always drop the Kyodai classes."So I called back the lady and said that I will take the Ritsumeikan classes. The wheels were rolling in my head at that point, further confirmed by my Rits schedule right in front of me:

If I place in Intermediate II in the Kyodai placement test...
and if there are no conflicts in terms of the classes to choose from at Kyodai, since I can choose as opposed to a set schedule at Rits...
since no one will REALLY know except for me and a few of my friends...
why not take Japanese at both schools for this semester?

I am nuts. This is how determined I am to get at much in before this coming fall at least because I am not sure if I can continue at Rits - maybe I can into Upper Intermediate since I will be at the school already and be registered before the other kids come in. And for sure I can't take classes at Kyodai this fall - only for one more semester. I took a look at the Rits and Kyodai schedules - it would only be an extra two or three classes in the afternoons of Monday, Friday and MAYBE Wednesday, since that is Listening and I didn't like my Listening class last semester. Rits language classes all end by 12:10, with Thursday ending at 10:30. Kyodai classes don't have that much homework anyways - that was one of my complaints, but for now that might be a blessing in disguise. Plus, language classes at Kyodai don't start till the 16th.

But this is contingent on me being in Intermediate II. If not, then I might consider re-doing some Intermediate I classes, depending on conflicts (I really liked my Intermediate I reading teacher, and that class doesn't conflict on Fridays).

And I still have time to a) go to the gym, b) participate in the Classical Music Club (that will be the ONLY one) and c) take those two classes with regular Japanese students.

Even better news: I had tickets for the Miyako Odori with Ingram this Monday and we have to be there at 2:30. I was worried that I would miss class the first day because the Rits classes would be in the afternoon, but everything works out.

This is going to be ONE hell of a semester.

Maybe I should go to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine - Kitano Tenmangu is the patron saint of students, and I am going to need all the help I can get.

It pays...

...to be the gaijin-pain-in-the-ass. Especially when you are the "new research student."

Ritsumeikan just called. I had a five-minute phone conversation in Japanese with a really nice lady (I understood about 70% of it) about me and Japanese language classes. After some questions on whether or not I want credit (I don't- figured it would make it easier for them on their part and for me if I can't go to one of the classes if there is a scheduling conflict) which classes do I want to take (just the grammar/reading/writing one, not that and listening/speaking together) and what my other class schedule would be like (one class on Tuesday at 2:20, and my sensei's grad seminar on Thursdays @ 4:20, but I told her that besides the graduate seminar, nothing is totally decided yet).

So, the really nice lady jabbered on and I was trying to pick up what she was saying, and then I asked her (in a "can I just confirm what you said to make sure I understand tone") about a placement test. Is it true? Some of the teachers (my own advisor included) were talking behind the scenes it seems about me and Japanese classes?

I HAVE A PLACEMENT TEST THIS FRIDAY!

Who woulda thought that I would be so happy to hear about a placement test.

Surrounded by Ostriches

I HATE the Japanese bureaucracy. ANY form of it. If it's an office in Japan I am biased against it. Period.

According to one of the International Student directors at Ritsumeikan, it is a "little difficult" for me to take Japanese classes.

WHO IS TO SAY THAT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ME to take Japanese classes, when I WANT to take them?

I saw red when he told me that. I kept my composure, and told him that I understand that it is difficult and it would be a challenge, but I don't mind a challenge. Furthermore, I would be taking only two regular classes that meet once a week and I DO NOT MIND that the Japanese classes meet 5 times a week - all the better, really!

I know why there is such a problem. I am asking for something that is outside of the box - the Japanese language classes are part of a particular program, and all I am asking is to just sit in, partake in the lessons and do the homework. BUT - because I am not officially in the program, I cannot cross-register. Colleen has the same problem over at Kyodai when it deals with something outside of her department. If it is outside the collective umbrella of a particular place, or disrupts the "wa" of the place that you are in already, it seems that Japanese people just push you off to the next person, or act like ostriches and stick their heads in the sand..."La, la, la, chotto matte, muzukashii kedo..."

I

DO

NOT

CARE

if it is "a little difficult." Bring it on! I need a challenge. I even told the director that other Monbusho students at Rits have told me that they took courses with the SKP program - that got his attention. I also told him that it is necessary for my research that I continue Japanese classes. So, I gave him the information on the classes that I took to the best of my memory - main one being the basic textbook that I used last semester, that I passed JLPT level 3 and I want to take JLPT level 2 this winter.

I literally had road rage (damn pedestrians!) while riding my bike back over to my neck of the woods.

So tonight/tomorrow I am going to write off an email to my sensei asking about ID and all, where do I go and that I would like to take his seminar (saw the syllabus, good chance and a challenge for me to try to do my research really in Japanese since I have to write a paper) and ask how do I register. Also in the email, I am going to let him know of my problem, and ask if he has any suggestions on what should I do.

I am just very afraid that my Japanese won't get any better than it is now, and then when I take my language tests at the start of my Ph.d prog I will do poorly (AND I have to take another language!), then I won't be able to pass my languge exams to get me to the ABD stage, then I will fail out of the program, waste 4-5 years of my life and then start from scratch again. And then what?

It is a serious, mega fear of mine - failing at what I am trying to accomplish right now. I am a serious mild Type-A with a dash of OCD sort of person (think Cristina from Grey's Anatomy but not bitchy and cold like her) when it comes to school and work - I have worked so hard with so little and pretty much been the scrappy one with the language so it's been a bit more difficult and now with the mild stress of applying to grad school which leads me to try and rethink my project, I just feel that it's all crap and for naught.

One ironic upside is that if I can't take Japanese classes, then I guess I have every motivation to work even harder in my regular classes (of which I will take 3 instead of 2) and get some Kanji workbooks/JLPT level 2 workbooks and those grammar dictionaries from the Japan Times because I know I need to focus on reading, grammar/vocab and kanji - the speaking and the listening can come by when I am in class and meet Japanese kids; my new friend from Rits, Ulyana says that she learned more in her regular classes than her actual Japanese classes (she even said the SKP classes weren't that great, but I need some structure).

Maybe the no Japanese classes would be a good thing since I can focus on what I really want to do in terms of the language, don't have to waste my time and have more time with the actual regular classes, and then get more practical application, which is what I also want and need more than a boring grammar lesson. I think I am just afraid to step out of that "Japanese language class" bubble.

Blogging helps me think. I see more pink now, not red.

Of Politics and Cacophonous Megaphones

Political season is upon us - and no, I don't mean the madness and rat-race that is known as the 2008 presidential race. (Speaking of which, that will be my first time voting for president, as in 2004 I was in London and since NY is such a blue state, absentee ballots don't count.)

This summer is the House of Councilors Elections and that's the Upper House of the Diet,and is sorta like the Senate in the States and the House of Lords in England. Sort of. There was a big to-do about the new PM Shinzo Abe and the fact that a) his popularity is going down and b) the elections in July will be life-or-death for him. Even before I arrived in Kyoto, there were signs of the candidates (though obviously I did not know that they were candidates, and that there was an election coming this summer) all over the place, even on houses in the neighborhoods off the main roads, my own included. There are a bunch of political parties in Japan, the one in power being the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), the one who has continuously had power since the end of WWII. Here is their very logo, to the right. Enough with the cute little kids and the cartoons, they are totally unconvincing.

Japan really does have this thing with cartoons of one stripe or another.

The main opposition party is the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which is pretty young (since 1998) and one of their main issues is that the LDP has been running the show for a bit too long. Their logo is a bit more "political-ish," or at least more convincing. I pass by one of the Kyoto offices on my way to Rits when I ride my bike. (no, school hasn't started yet, but I have gone there twice already). Then again, I can't say much for logos being to convincing in terms of imagery - there are donkeys and elephants in the States.

You have your meet-and-greets, and I guess there are fund raisers; one needs money to run campaigns after all. The analysts in the States are probably having a ball with the way Clinton and Obama are changing the scene in that respect.

And then there are the megaphones.

In Japan, people like to drive around in cars with megaphones blaring on top of the car (and they are huge) - it can range from the little truck that comes around with a cute little song and an uber-peppy (they always are uber-peppy) female voice squeaking out that the recycling truck is coming, to the political vans that either are saying some sort of new slogan, campaign or propaganda.

Given that the conservatives/nationalists (I keep forgetting which, because like almost every other American, I am guilty of trying to align foreign political parties with the donkeys and the elephants back home, even subconsciously) are not very big fans of foreigners (as far as I know, see the Yasukuni Shrine broo-ha-ha and all that goes with it, it's a mega issue that runs in all sorts of directions) and the previous short-lived appearance of the "Gaijin Hanzai Fairu" (Foreigner Crime White Paper), whenever those trucks are blaring "gaijin this, gaijin that" I am always a bit wary, because it sometimes is never a good thing especially when it's by those people who are the Nationalists (conservatives?). Apparently, their presence is even worse in Tokyo, especially when you are right near the Yasukuni Shrine. Since I did a research paper on the place, I plan to visit when I go to Tokyo in June; according to Chen, you are not even allowed to take pictures inside, and invariably, I'll bet it's so that you don't take pictures of the museum captions (they have a nifty website that I used in my research, filled with propagandist tones).

So, with the elections making it a make-or-break for Abe, the trucks are blaring. Incessantly. They are on the corner of Marutamachi/Higashi-oji in the mornings, sometimes with the politician just waving his hand, while a deputy reads quickly and loudly through the microphone. They have just stopped blaring in my neighborhood after about oh, two or three hours of gibberish that I don't understand yet, although in one of the cars, the actual politician was a female, and waving from the car even though there were like two people on the street (she was in the depths of my neighborhood, off the main road), wearing white gloves. More power to the girls in Japan, even with white gloves and waving hands a la Miss America.

I think it will be a real long while before there is a Japanese version of Barbra Boxer, Hilary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi.

An Unintended Hike

Chen just moved into her new apartment recently in the Kita-Shirakawa area (slightly NE of me, near Ginkakuji) so she invited me over to watch "La Maison du Himiko," a Japanese movie starring Joe Odagiri (:::sigh:::, the HAIR!).

She showed me on the mapbook that I have where she lives - obviously, no one goes by addresses here. I started to head on up towards her place, but I must have missed the bridge (she lives on the other side of a small river), and ended up on the side of a highway in the hills, with no cell phone reception, twisty roads, a fear of death, and halfway to Lake Biwa.

Even though I was scared out of my wits (cars going at 50kph at you, anyone?), the scenery was quite nice and very peaceful. It reminded me of Florina again, my dad's hometown in northern Greece which has mountains and roads like the one I was on. When I called Chen - before I lost cell phone reception - and told her that I was on a road with alot of twists, cars and a bamboo grove, she was like, "Umm...where?"

I passed a small temple on my way and when I looked on the map, it had the temple as a marker - wooooo, I was CLEARLY off the map. I was about 30 minutes on foot away from Chen's place; it got so hilly at one point during my upward trek I just got off my bike and began to walk. I was in a flimsy little shirt because it got hot for me in spite of the fact that it was 55 degrees and then it started to rain.

Lovely.

I decided to turn around and head back to the main road, where I met Chen. Going downhill on my bike took only 10 minutes or even less - but I was going so fast and it was so steep and twisty at some points that I had to hold my bike brakes to slow me down.

Chen did point out to me that the road was the way to Lake Biwa if you wanted to do it by bike, but it is a bit dangerous, and I don't have a proper mountain bike nor the stamina to do the trip.

Too Many Titles, Too Much Harry Potter

Ok, so Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter is doing the "full monty" in the West End. And "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" (cue the eery Halloween "OoOoO" music) is coming out July 21. Just like I did last time, I am going to stand on line at midnight and attend a Harry Potter party provided I am back home. I went to one for the 6th book and got the illustrator of the covers to autograph my sister's nice versions of 4,5 and 6. She has two sets: one that is literally in pieces (at least 4 and 5) to read and another set off first editions, hardcover (three of which are now autographed) for no one else to touch and is in separate plastic bags.

However, I am more concerned with what the heck the name of the 5th book in the series was - I totally forgot. Since Deena was on Skype, I began the following conversation after about 10 minutes of silence, since we (at least me, dunno about her) prefer to have Skype on since it's one less person that we have to type im's to. They can get messy, especially when you are talking to 6 people at the same time. Here is a reiteration of our Skype conversation (since it wasn't iChat it's not verbatim but you get the gist):

M: Oh, drat what's the name of the 5th book?
D: Umm..."Order of the Phoenix"
M: No, that's not it - that's the 6th book! Do you realize how pathetic we are, knowing that we are both talking about Harry Potter without having to say "Harry Potter?"
D: It is the "Order of the Phoenix."
M: Wait so what was the 4th book then?
D: The Goblet of Fire.
M: Oh drat...I'm confused, which movie is coming out next summer then - I thought it was the 6th book?
D: No...it's Order of the Phoenix that is coming out. Half-Blood Prince is number 6.
M: (head in hands) Ugh, I feel so stupid...

A Whack in the Face

I know I am home.

First off, on the way back home from the airport, Mel and I were yelling (a bit) at the other stupid drivers with out of town license plates (yes we are evil when it comes to the highway) because they drove too slow and don't know how to handle NYC traffic.

Secondly, I went into the city and preceeded to be swarmed by tourists and people who actually STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK to take photos of the "really tall buildings." MOVE IT, people!

Thirdly, I totally lost my uptown-downtown/East Side-West Side orientation. Shame on me.

Fourthly, in my futile search to find a pink Nintendo DS Lite (obviously sold out because every kid wanted one for Christmas) I got whacked in the face by a father at the Toys R Us in Times Square (stupid, stupid move Maria, you do NOT go to Times Square!) wielding those plastic security cases with a video game inside. There is a scratch along my right eye, and the father proceeded to say "Sorry!" so fast and so loud as if I was going to pounce on him because he wacked me in the face.

I was exclaiming rather loudly, but no I wasn't going to kill him.

I am a NICE New Yorker.

But sometimes, I do give out the wrong directions on the subway. That's an accident.

Keitai Konfusion

I got a bank account today. Pretty simple. I like how the cash card (ATM card) comes in 32 different colors and I get to choose one. I chose Dreamy Purple. Very pretty. Should come in 10 days so I will be able to pay my next month`s rent in time. I can bank online too in English. Woot!

But there is no woot! for the keitai denwa. My cell phone.

Japanese cell phones kick the asses of American cell phones anyday. Even my fancy pink Motorola Razr`s bum gets beaten by the OLD-SCHOOL vodafone model that I have.

2 megapixel camera and the capability to play music. I have a 32mb memory card already built in.

But it`s the contract and the usage of the phone that get`s me - seriously, I do not know how to use this damn thing. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to change my ring tone. Doesn`t help that the manual is not in english. And I didn`t sign up for this email thing so I don`t have a phone email? Not very helpful, because in order to text (or send a `Long Mail` or a `Sky Mail`) to someone outside the Softbank Network, you can`t use a number, you have to use the email?

Pah! This is so complicated. Right now, I sorta have buyers remorse - I sorta wished I had just plunked down the money for the cheapest and simplest cell phone and done pre-paid. Oh well. I signed a contract for 26 months and they don`t have one year so I have to pay a cancellation fee, which is the equivalent of how much my phone would have cost anyways. I think once I get the ball rolling on this keitai thing, I won`t regret getting a contract. Either way, I would have to pay for a cell so I might as well get the contract along with it to get all the goodies without having to go crazy paying so much. Then again, pre-paid would limit me but oh well. Thing is, pre-paid in London was simple because it was just texting, here it is a TOTALLY different story. They have cell phones that turn into miniature tv`s.

You win some, you lose some. Whatever. Not like I am really paying for it.

So as I was waiting for my cell phone to get activated, I wandered into this store called Inobun. Heaven - it is like a combination of Anthropologie and Kate`s Paperie.

I attached my cell phone charms - the one that Maki gave me and the one with a little bell and a dog from Fushimi Inari Taisha - to my cell phone on the bus back to school. I now jingle.

The Fordham Invasion, Part 3

One thing that I forgot to mention:

"The Bachelor" is starting a new season, this time in Roma. (Roll the "R" please!)

To go along with the Italian theme, they chose a bachelor who is incidentally, and Italian prince.

You know that will kick up the ratings - a royal! (Even if Italy doesn't have much royalty anymore it still counts. Just like how one of the princesses from the exiled Greek royal family lives on the Upper East Side.)

One other thing - he graduated from Fordham with his MBA.

When will the madness end?!?!?

The Fordham Invasion, Part 2

And so the wedding reception hunt begins.

This past Saturday, Mel, my mother, his mother and I went to the New York Botanical Garden up in the Bronx to check out their wedding facilities and prices. Well, we already had a clue what the prices were since it was in the email that Mel received, but we still wanted to check.

Two-hundred and fifty one dollars a person the NYBG does not make. The carpets were old, the mirrors a bit grimy, the linens looked cheap (didn't help much that the color chosen for the wedding that afternoon was peach) and the place where they had the cocktail hour wasn't very garden-looking. You weren't even in the garden. The tent was dirty, too. The chairs for the cocktail tables were this hideous green. It just looked so blah. If it wasn't $251, we might have thought on it a bit more, since you can change the linens and the chairs and such, but you can't, only for an "extra charge" so money wise it was a waste. No wonder there was a wedding that afternoon - it was a hundred dollars cheaper a person.

Fordham is right next to NYBG and my mom kept on pestering me, saying that "Oh wouldn't it be so nice to take pictures on the Fordham campus?" (Only alumni can get married at the chapel there and take pictures, provided that at least the bride or the groom is an alum.)This was said in hopes that we would choose the NYBG, and before all 4 of us came to the conclusion before our appointment that it just sucked. I kept saying pretty much "Hell no - I never set foot on that campus for more than 20 minutes at a time and the longest time I ever spent there was at graduation." Not my school. Simple as that.

During our appointment, the bride for that afternoon's wedding came in from the "bridal suite" to look at everything and she was happy with it. To each her own.

After the bride left to "go get herself married," my mother turns to the sales representative that we were talking to and asked, "Is the ceremony at the garden?"

The sales representative turns around and goes, "Oh, not this time. They are getting married at the chapel at Fordham University. It's right next door and I hear it's very pretty."

I stand corrected. I am surrounded.