a history of me

Yup, I'm sick. I hope it's just a cold. I'm not quite sure what brought it on. It could be my tendency to abuse my air conditioner and keep my room around 20°Celcius (68°F), or maybe something happened when I got caught in the rain on Sunday. I choose to blame the stranger who had lunch with me last week. He had a cold or something and he obviously gave me his crazy Japanese germs.


来た！

Dad sent me a package last week and it arrived today. What's in the box?



Oatmeal! My baseball glove (with a baseball)! Vitamins! And several books that might come in handy. Thanks a lot Dad!

Going to classes when you are sick is a real ordeal. If you've ever heard me blow my nose, you know it's pretty loud and so I have to try and make sure not to do it when the teacher is talking. Plus, after one or two tissues are sitting on the desk I feel like I'm building a germ collection. Cough drops help (a lot) but nothing completely stems the tide of mucus. I feel more undesirable than ever before.

You may be wondering what kinds of things I've been watching on TV lately. Here's a rundown:

Sumo: The September tournament began this weekend and this is my chance to actually watch and enjoy the matches without silly editing or forced American voiceovers. The Yokozuna (highest ranking wrestler) is apparently always the last match of the day so I can always tune in around six o'clock to see 朝青龍 kick ass.

Movies: There are two movie channels which routinely show foreign films with Japanese subtitles. Of these, the most unusual was Taxi 2, a French-language film. Between my decade-old French lessons and the Japanese subtitles, I somehow worked out the gist of what was happening on screen. It helped that much of the plot involved driving really fast.

Drama: So far as I can tell, Japanese TV doesn't offer much in the way of sitcoms. Indeed, most of the time it's not even fictional programs at all but "variety" shows with a panel of (presumably) famous people talking about something or doing odd things or sometimes just watching strange videos and reacting on camera.

When it is a fictional program it's always a drama, although some dramas are sillier than others. Right now I can see one where a girl who always dresses in sixties' fashions has magical powers or something. There's also crime dramas, police dramas, love stories, and the occasional import like MacGyver or a Chinese spin-off of Shaolin Soccer.

News: The evening news is a common sight here. Some channels even offer English-language translation on the second audio channel. I think now that the election is over I will make more of an attempt to watch the news. Before, I got so sick and tired of the endless campaigning by people I couldn't even vote for (or against).

Music videos: If I ever want to completely turn my brain off, there are Japanese music videos. I can't say if they are truly any different than their American counterparts but I feel that watching them is a stupendous waste of my time. At least they are aired in their entirety here, unlike MTV back home. I take that as a good sign for the attention span of Japanese youth.