Hello everybody! I apologize to my Seminar teacher for not starting on this blog soon enough. I thought I'd have my shot at a video blog, but since that fell flat on its face I decided to make a text blog and embed youtube videos whenever I can.
So many things have happened over the last month and a half. On September 8th, mom and I flew from my hometown of Bozeman, Montana to Seattle. After 11 hours in a flying metal tube shooting over the Pacific, it was great to finally get off the plane and sleep away the 13-hour layover. The next day we hopped on our final flight to Kumamoto.
Upon arriving, mom and I were greeted by Mr. Takashi Osawa. A staff member of the international office whom I had been in contact with in the months before my flight. He had a taxi ready to take us straight to the dorm, where I got to meet other exchange students including my crazy South Korean roommate.
The dorms remind me of the Hedges Suites on my campus back home. With a shared living room and three private bedrooms. My nice, cozy corner has a balcony that overlooks the massive ocean of buildings.... Pretty jarring for a Montana kid like myself.
Over the next coupe of days I got to meet my other roommate, Alex. A Canadian from Toronto, he has a complete obsession with Monster Hunter... And has tried to get me in to it on countless occasions. Later in the month I finally bought a PSP and a copy of MH Portable 3rd, but that's another blog entry in and of itself.
Hyun-Goo and Alex, respectively.
The first week consisted of nothing but orientation after orientation, and a CRAPLOAD of paperwork. The week was finally capped off with a relaxing homestay with the family of a nice young lady by the name of Yukari.
First off, Yukari and her father took me to the famous Kumamoto Castle. I will go into greater depth in a future blog entry, as there are way too many things I am trying to cram into this entry as it is.
After the castle, we went out for lunch at a restaurant Yukari used to work at. All three of us ordered "dagojiru." A lunch set with the main dish being a hot iron pot of udon noodles.
After lunch, I got to hang out around the house watching American TV shows with Yukari and her father. Did I mention that her dad is a huge fan of Lost? Later that evening we had sukiyaki for dinner. Love the stuff... The savory slices of beef with konyaku and vegetables all simmering in a concentrated salty-sweet broth. And I got to help in cutting the ingredients!
Moving on with the blog, since it's five after 2 in the morning and I have a quiz I need to study for... The next day, we picked up mom and drove all the way to Kyushu's famous Mt. Aso volcano. At around 1,000 meters above sea level the weather was cooler and windier than the normal sub-tropical climate of Kyushu. But as a Montanan, I wasn't badly affected by it. I will go into greater detail about Mt. Aso in another entry, so for now here are a few pictures.
From left to right: Yukari's father, Me, Mom, Yukari's Mom, Yukari
After experiencing the asthmatic green crater of death we went to Aso Town. There, I experienced the Aso shrine, munched on a korokke filled with ground horse, and got to meet Yukari's grandparents. Personally, I'd love to live in this small town. Far quieter than the train tracks my dorm is right next to.
JUMPING forward to the end of the first week, my mom had to stay an extra five days due to Typhoon Roke closing all of the airports. Not... Fun... For both of us. Five days after her initial departure date she hopped on a plane home. It's been almost a month since mom flew back home.
Now... On to the topics set in front of me by Mr. Masden over the last month... Regarding these topics, I will have to keep them as to the point as possible. But for future assignments I will be sure to stay up to date.
First topic. My opinion on the recent Japanese laws that are supposed to help suppress the Yakuza and how TEPCO is hiriing them to do dangerous work at Fukushima.
Wow... Do I have mixed feelings about this. Up front, yes, I am all for new laws that could help in suppressing the influence of the Japanese mafia. And at the same time, I can't help but think that what TEPCO is doing by hiring them for work at Fukushima is ethically and morally wrong. It makes me think TEPCO is under the delusion that they are helping the cause of stopping the Yakuza by exposing them to a lifetime of slow and painful deterioration by radiation.
On to the next subject. Sleep. The average worker in Tokyo gets only six hours of sleep a day. As opposed to other working class people in the world who get a healthy eight to nine hours... In all due respect, I am surprised that Japan has such a long life expectancy when its people only get that much sleep... Sleep is needed so you can focus and do well at work. Speaking of which... I need to get my share of sleep, right after posting this article.
Now for the final topic of the night. Whaling. I will make this as to the point as I can.
Whaling as it is currently is way out of control. Japan is killing way too many whales. This does not mean I am completely against it though. Many cultures around the world have hunted whales for hundreds of years, including Japan. If they want whale meat so badly, then they should only hunt the amount that's necessary for the general demographic that enjoys meat with brain-meltingly high mercury content.
Now... If you all excuse me, I have a nice comfy futon waiting for me. This takes care of the bulk I missed out on, so you can all rest easy. The rest of my articles shouldn't be this taxing of a read.
ではまた次回！
Thanks for these comments, Tanner! My apologies for being so late to respond. The trip kept me failing busy for a while. Thanks for writing about each of the subjects I introduced in class. I hope more people will do the same -- there may be a good more to talk about than was immediately apparent in class.
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