They can't all love it, can they? Seriously? All of Japan obsessed with karaoke, drunken singing in a group of people 'til the wee small hours of the morning?
Um, yes. OBSESSED. I suppose it was invented here, though, wasn't it?
If you go to any city in this country, you will find numerous little izakayas (pubs) with a focus on late-night karaoke-ing. Giant cities, tiny towns, they've all got them, and plenty of them. When Steven lived in Fukuoka, we decided to take a night to check out the "young" part of the city, the really happening area where everyone parties until the sun comes up. You know what we found there before stumbling upon the nightclub we had been previously searching for? About fifty karaoke clubs. Rent rooms by the hour, all-you-can-drink, whatever and that was it, for the most part. In Philly, we often went to $2 Pint Night, which had karaoke as well, but it was more of a joke for most people. I remember there being something like this in Philadelphia called "Yakitori Boy" but it was one of the dodgiest places I remember coming across in that part of the city.
Anywho, there's something here called enka which is traditional Japanese songs sung in a loud, drawn-out, shaky voice from both men and women. It is actually quite adorable to watch the elderly take their limelight and croon to these toons. . . for no more than ten minutes, maybe. But they go on for hours and hours if you let them! I really can't take too much of it at once. All the songs start blurring together after a certain point and the night just becomes one whole blob of enka with some dinner and drinks on the side. I've had the pleasure of joining Yasuda townspeople in numerous enkais (parties) for random things like sports days, celebrating the end or beginning of the year, congratulating people for accompishing some event, or whatever else tickles their fancies. They LOVE to party in Yasuda!
I just walked back to school from a mid-day enkai which I was invited to attend by a member of the group (something like the Lions' Club in the U.S., I imagine). Needless to say I didn't drink at this one, which may be why it seemed so much longer than most others I have been to, but it was sweet. I had the honor of sitting next to the Mayor of Yasuda and being the youngest in the room (by decades and mostly half-centuries!). He proved to be an excellent enka singer! They tried their damnedest to get me to sing something, but I quickly reminded them that my Japanese is nowhere near good enough to sing these songs. They pointed out the Beatles songs in the back of the book, but I still declined saying that it would obviously be too difficult.
The truth is that tomorrow night I'll be attending a beer party in Nahari (a neigboring town) and there is no way I would be able to have this two days in a row. Either way, it was lovely to see these elderly folks enjoying themselves so much.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Eclipsed!
It only really seems appropriate that since my last post was complaining about the terrible technology that I've experienced in Japan, this one should explain that I am currently using a brand new, huge, beautiful and powerful laptop at work right now. So far, it is working really nicely, and faster than anything I have used thus far. Perhaps the thinking in keeping the caveman POS I had before around in the office was that it was letting the beast die naturally, a slow and painful death. It's about damn time. . .
Anywho, yesterday was a big day for many people all over the world. We had our first total (annular) solar eclipse of the 21st century. Southern parts of Japan (among a few others) had the best view of this phenomenon. LUCKY ME for living in Kochi right now! Even through all my shit luck, there are tiny rays of light like this. I've heard various things about how often these eclipses occur, from every 17-19 years to every 600 or so. I remember hearing about the one in 1994 and being amazed that our teachers were telling us to look at the sun, but safely, but glasses or something. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring. There are things in this world that really make me think about life and my place in the universe. I'm almost always freaked out when I think on these things for too long. However, this was just exciting and gorgeous. We really are so huge, yet so tiny. . .
Anywho, yesterday was a big day for many people all over the world. We had our first total (annular) solar eclipse of the 21st century. Southern parts of Japan (among a few others) had the best view of this phenomenon. LUCKY ME for living in Kochi right now! Even through all my shit luck, there are tiny rays of light like this. I've heard various things about how often these eclipses occur, from every 17-19 years to every 600 or so. I remember hearing about the one in 1994 and being amazed that our teachers were telling us to look at the sun, but safely, but glasses or something. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring. There are things in this world that really make me think about life and my place in the universe. I'm almost always freaked out when I think on these things for too long. However, this was just exciting and gorgeous. We really are so huge, yet so tiny. . .
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Technological Wonders of Japan
Japan: Masters of Technology.
Let me explain my experiences with technological wonders while living here the past two years. . .
When I arrived in this country, I desperately wanted to use the internet to contact people back home, let them know I was safe, etc. I was in Tokyo at the JET Programme Orientation and we were staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel, supposedly one of the best. My roommates and I were a bit surprised to find that we needed to plug ourselves into the one LAN cable provided in our room if we wanted to use the internet. Almost every place here might have internet, but it is almost always LAN, not wireless.
When I got to Kochi, I was a bit disappointed to find that there was not (and had never been) internet at my home. I don't blame anyone for being disconnected, but I actually enjoy the ability to go online when I feel like it in the privacy of my own house, especially for Skype conversations and the like. It took 2-3 months to get the line to my house and it was a bitch to get set up. I know others who had to wait even longer. I understand that we live in bumfuck nowhere, but that is a bit lame. . .
At work, I found that we all had laptops to use for classes and things. They are all about 5-6 years old, but they look and feel older than that. They all have disc drives in them still. And my schools still use floppy disks at work. I was shocked when I found that out. At the junior high school, I can see the external hard disc drive sitting on top of the computer since they are no longer made with them built in. Not a clue to stop using them? Hmmm. . .
The speed on these computers is almost unbearable sometimes. If I click something, it takes about a minute to register on the computer and actually react. I thought I could deal with that at first, maybe learn something about patience or whatever, but it has been slowly eating my brain waiting for the responses.
In the past few weeks, two of the three computers at my disposal in the town have crashed. No one understands what to do when it says to "insert the hard disc" to recover, so they think it is best to just get a new computer. I'm not going to argue with that!
Everyone has fancy applications on their phones. I'm not talking about iPhones or "smart" phones, per se, but even the "dumb" phones. For example, if I purchase this ridiculous little antenna, I can watch television programs on my keitai (cell phone). Instead of "texting" or "SMS"ing, we have our very own keitai emails, which can be annoying if you only have someone's phone number. I kind of appreciate being able to send a message to someone's number, less to remember/ program. Interesting concept, though, phone emails. Many people don't have a camera here, only using their keitai. I could never live using my keitai as my phone, camera, computer, and television all in one. . .
Speaking of televisions, mine has been obsolete for almost a year now. I paid for NHK (Japanese cable provider) for a full year and only was capable of using my TV until July of last year. As a result, the company is going to refund a few months of my bill which I had paid in advance. WIN! They have been harassing me to pay my supposedly voluntary dues for many months now. Hopefully, as a result of explaining that I have no TV viewing capabilities (TV, computer, or keitai), they will leave me alone from now on.
There have been many other amazing experiences with technology here, but I will quit ranting for now.
On a brighter note, if I have bills that need to be paid and I receive a paper bill or a bus or flight in Japan, etc., I can take it to the nearest convenience store to take care of them! That's something pretty special.
Let me explain my experiences with technological wonders while living here the past two years. . .
When I arrived in this country, I desperately wanted to use the internet to contact people back home, let them know I was safe, etc. I was in Tokyo at the JET Programme Orientation and we were staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel, supposedly one of the best. My roommates and I were a bit surprised to find that we needed to plug ourselves into the one LAN cable provided in our room if we wanted to use the internet. Almost every place here might have internet, but it is almost always LAN, not wireless.
When I got to Kochi, I was a bit disappointed to find that there was not (and had never been) internet at my home. I don't blame anyone for being disconnected, but I actually enjoy the ability to go online when I feel like it in the privacy of my own house, especially for Skype conversations and the like. It took 2-3 months to get the line to my house and it was a bitch to get set up. I know others who had to wait even longer. I understand that we live in bumfuck nowhere, but that is a bit lame. . .
At work, I found that we all had laptops to use for classes and things. They are all about 5-6 years old, but they look and feel older than that. They all have disc drives in them still. And my schools still use floppy disks at work. I was shocked when I found that out. At the junior high school, I can see the external hard disc drive sitting on top of the computer since they are no longer made with them built in. Not a clue to stop using them? Hmmm. . .
The speed on these computers is almost unbearable sometimes. If I click something, it takes about a minute to register on the computer and actually react. I thought I could deal with that at first, maybe learn something about patience or whatever, but it has been slowly eating my brain waiting for the responses.
In the past few weeks, two of the three computers at my disposal in the town have crashed. No one understands what to do when it says to "insert the hard disc" to recover, so they think it is best to just get a new computer. I'm not going to argue with that!
Everyone has fancy applications on their phones. I'm not talking about iPhones or "smart" phones, per se, but even the "dumb" phones. For example, if I purchase this ridiculous little antenna, I can watch television programs on my keitai (cell phone). Instead of "texting" or "SMS"ing, we have our very own keitai emails, which can be annoying if you only have someone's phone number. I kind of appreciate being able to send a message to someone's number, less to remember/ program. Interesting concept, though, phone emails. Many people don't have a camera here, only using their keitai. I could never live using my keitai as my phone, camera, computer, and television all in one. . .
Speaking of televisions, mine has been obsolete for almost a year now. I paid for NHK (Japanese cable provider) for a full year and only was capable of using my TV until July of last year. As a result, the company is going to refund a few months of my bill which I had paid in advance. WIN! They have been harassing me to pay my supposedly voluntary dues for many months now. Hopefully, as a result of explaining that I have no TV viewing capabilities (TV, computer, or keitai), they will leave me alone from now on.
There have been many other amazing experiences with technology here, but I will quit ranting for now.
On a brighter note, if I have bills that need to be paid and I receive a paper bill or a bus or flight in Japan, etc., I can take it to the nearest convenience store to take care of them! That's something pretty special.
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