Temping ain't easy ..

Anyone who has ever been to Japan should be familiar with those annoying people who stand outside of the train stations and departments stores shoving flyers and tissues into the hands of unsuspecting passersby, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Well.. I got me a new part-time job as one of those annoying people. I hand out flyers for an English school. Its not that bad.. I get to pretend that I'm
"Flyerman", without the leather jacket, and without the Uptown Theatre, and without the eye contact; Japanese people are exceptionally good at ignoring things. Especially when those things are shoving flyers in their faces.. I have to say though, I'm a big hit wiht the over-40 ladies set. I think its cause lots of peoples' mothers want them to study english... I hope...

Nagasaki

Nagasaki photos

I managed to get in a little side trip to Nagasaki this week, which was a nice little break from routine. Of course I made a stop at the Nagasaki Atomic bomb museum, and the Peace Park, but I was also able to check out the sites of some of the few remaining Dutch inspired buildings in the city. (Historical note, during Japan's isolationist period, the country's borders were closed to all foreign influence, with the exception of occasional contact with the Dutch through the port in Nagasaki).
I also managed to get a taste of some Nagasaki champon, which is basically noodles in soup, with bits of pork, mussels, octopus and/or squid, and vegetables. Not a bad little meal, though I would have liked it better if it was just the pork.

Acceptance

Whew, looks like another long while between updates, despite my promises to update more often.. Well I have the excuse that I don't have internet at home, I suppose. Well today's topic is "acceptance". Acceptance of life, liberty and the pursuit of "happyness" (which I saw the other day, and is an awesome movie, but for some reason is called "The Power of Happiness" in Japanese)..

Actually, I lie, its all about my acceptance to the Tokyo Institute of Technology's research student program starting in April. I'll basically be doing research in the fields of robotics and control systems, possibly emphasizing human/machine interface systems. I'm really looking forward to it, and I've been looking back at some of the material that I studied back in the day at school, and realizing, that this crap can be pretty tough stuff. Oh well, wish me luck.

Hot Eats and Cool Streets

Since I've arrived in Fukoka, I've been oot and aboot here and there looking for housing and a job and all of those other boringly insignificant things that keep us all from dying in the street, or wearing tinfoil hats. Well today, I came across what I'm assuming is Fukuoka's big signature mall, Canal City. It's huge. And its really funky looking. For starters its got about 6 floors of shopping, dining, a movie theatre, a musical theatre, and a Grand Hyatt Hotel. Also, its not so much one building as a series of buildings built together, with connecting bridges, and forming a huge courtyard, featuring.... dancing fountains.. Its like the Bellagio show in Vegas with less Celine Dion.

Well all that looking at stuff is pretty hungry work, so I went off to find myself something to eat. I managed to find some of the best unagi (eel) that I've put my lips on since I got to Japan. The eel was good, the rice was good, the miso soup was good. It was all good... with one minor drawback. Cleverly disguised in amongst all that deliciousness was a head... an eel head. But even that couldn't spoil this meal.

(sigh) now back to finding work...

Engrishified

I've been pretty impressed so far at the general lack of Engrish that I've encountered thus far in Japan. Sure there are the the occational "L" and "R" swaps, but that's not too terrible. And with North American 12 yr old girls walking around with "Jailbait" shirts, it's not too far of a leap to see a middle-aged Japanese lady walking around with a shirt that reads "I like it from behind". That being said, I was pretty amused to find a gold-mine of Engrish in my hotel room.. Here are some excepts of what I think they are trying to say (as translated from the Japanese) and what they actually write

Intended: When leaving the room, the small thing on the inside doorknob is the the lock

Actual: Still a key of door in outside room (a lock) of a doorknob of an inner door is small

Intended: If there are any unclear points, please don't hesitate to ask at the front desk

Actual: If there was an indistinct dot without hesitation to the front desk

Dunno; reeks of babelfish translation to me.

Hiroshima

The Hiroshima manga library

The most obvious thing to come to mind when thinking of Hiroshima is the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945 (8:15 am local time). While a lot of the city seems to stand as a monument to those who died in that horrific event, there are a lot of other areas of interest in Hiroshima as well. Now I've never been called a great lover of art, but I was impressed by the outside of the Hiroshima museum of art, which features a sculpture garden and a really cool staircase with mini-waterfalls. I have been called a great lover of food (or a lover of great food, or a great lover, who eats food), and so I was all to eager to chow down on the Hiroshima version of Okonomiyaki, which is pretty famous. I would have posted a picture, but the thought of taking one only occured to me about 3/4 of the way through eating. For all the manga fans, Hiroshima has a library that exclusively carries the further adventures of all your favourites. Food, shopping, and culture are just some of the things that make Hiroshima an intersting place to visit.

monument to the victims,
depicting a clock frozen at 8:15

All that being said, I would be lying if I didn't say that the Peace Park, dedicated to the A-bomb detonation wasn't the most dominant aspect of the city, and the main reason that I came here in the first place.

I'm sure that most people have seen pictures of the Atomic Bomb dome, which was formerly the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall. It, being one of the few buildings left standing near ground zero, stands as-is as a monument to the destruction. The surrounding area, which was levelled in the explosion has been converted to the Peace Park, the main attraction of which is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It's the best 50 yen you can spend. Most shocking displays: photos of victims in the aftermath; a cement wall with shards of glass embedded in it from the explosion.

All the photos are here

Thank you, good bye (again)

Well, my Christmas vacation has come to an end... I just want to wish a happy belated New Year's to anyone I missed while I was in Toronto for what turned out to be a way too short holiday. My extra 5 pounds and I will be heading back to Japan very early tomorrow morning. I hope that everyone had a good holiday themselves and thanks to everyone for showing me a good time while I was back in the old T-dot. In response to everyone's incessant complaints, I'll try to update my blog a little more often. :)

Here's to 2007. Let's all make it a good one.