Thursday, September 15, 2005
Well?
After all my big talk last night, I'll bet you're wondering what happened today. Did I do anything different at all, or will I plan on doing it later, maybe, if I ever get around to it? I think the answer is somewhere in between, but doing something is surely much better than doing nothing at all.
The day got off to a pretty good start. I'm still sick but I didn't quite wake up feeling as awful as did yesterday. When it came time to get dressed, I made the bold decision to wear jeans today. My thought process was this: I feel uncomfortable wearing shorts even though I am wearing them to feel more comfortable in hot weather. It doesn't make much sense to wear them, does it? I figured a few extra drops of sweat wouldn't matter too much if I felt better about myself. Imagine my surprise when I walked outside to find reasonable temperatures and even a gentle breeze! It seems chance favors the prepared mind!
Thursday is kind of a light day with just Japanese classes in the morning and no afternoon classes at all. Both classes went smoothly; I took a quiz which I'm sure I aced. When I went to lunch, I found my new resolve was put to the test right away when I scanned the cafeteria looking for seats. I knew it was important not to look for empty seats but to seats next to other people, whether they be casual acquaintances or perhaps even strangers. Thankfully I did spot someone from my Japanese class; she was sitting with two Japanese girls whom I did not know. A happy mix of familiar and unfamiliar! I invited myself to sit at their table. While I can't say I was as talkative as I could (should?) have been, I wasn't as quiet as I was yesterday. I even managed to exchange mobile phone info with the girl from my class.
My afternoon wasn't very productive. I came back to dorm, got caught up in a lot of e-mail and internet shenanigans and ended up making a brief novelty post this afternoon. I caught the end of the day's sumo action which continues to entertain me more than anybody else in this entire building, I think. Sumo led into the evening news, which I watched a portion of using the English-language audio. Nothing huge in the news today, although I did learn that the Japanese government is trying to locate some 150+ citizens who had registered their addresses in the area hit by Hurricane Katrina. So far, none of them have turned up dead but there are apparently quite a few who they couldn't find via door-to-door searching. I haven't heard much about the political effect of the storm on the President or anyone else for that matter, I guess that kind of story wouldn't interest many people over here. It's all the rage on our international version of CNN though.
I went out to find supper after that and I somehow found a place I had never seen before while walking through nearby Makino. I'm routinely surprised by the lack of regular business hours around here. I was walking down what seems to be a major commercial street at six thirty PM and 90% of the businesses were closed, although on a given day I'm never sure which ones will be open and which will be closed. It's frustrating, and not just because I spent my summer living in "the city that never sleeps." Don't forget, I grew up in a pretty small town and still, most small businesses were open well past seven, often as late or ten or eleven at night (especially if they served food).
The lights are on, but nobody's at work.
I came back to the dorm and saw some truly fascinating television. It was some kind of Otaku challenge where they had these five obsessive fans and the show put them through a variety of competitions to determine a "champion." I couldn't follow it perfectly but I got the gist of it. There were trivia questions with a physical aspect to them (in order to answer, they had to run up a semi-steep slope without shoes), visits to local hangouts in Akihabara and tours of their homes which were chock-full of disturbing collectibles like "cute" girly outfits which they occasionally wear in public. I think they should have brought out the UV light and checked for stains; now that's what people want to see! The "champion" was finally decided when the two finalists were given an opportunity to dress up an actual woman to their liking and see who could create the "cutest" fantasy girl.
Why was this so interesting to me? I think it's because I know the mindset of an obsessive fan. I've been there and come back. Indeed, I make conscious decisions on a daily basis not to let myself "geek out" over trivial entertainment. I am, in a way, irked that I have to hide part of myself because what's "cool" and what's not is entirely arbitrary. In theory, I should be allowed to carry on about anything I like without fear of being branded a "geek." Realistically, however, that's simply not the case. So I think recent decisions that I don't have to "be myself" aren't as radical as they might sound because, in truth, I'm never myself anyway.
The day got off to a pretty good start. I'm still sick but I didn't quite wake up feeling as awful as did yesterday. When it came time to get dressed, I made the bold decision to wear jeans today. My thought process was this: I feel uncomfortable wearing shorts even though I am wearing them to feel more comfortable in hot weather. It doesn't make much sense to wear them, does it? I figured a few extra drops of sweat wouldn't matter too much if I felt better about myself. Imagine my surprise when I walked outside to find reasonable temperatures and even a gentle breeze! It seems chance favors the prepared mind!
Thursday is kind of a light day with just Japanese classes in the morning and no afternoon classes at all. Both classes went smoothly; I took a quiz which I'm sure I aced. When I went to lunch, I found my new resolve was put to the test right away when I scanned the cafeteria looking for seats. I knew it was important not to look for empty seats but to seats next to other people, whether they be casual acquaintances or perhaps even strangers. Thankfully I did spot someone from my Japanese class; she was sitting with two Japanese girls whom I did not know. A happy mix of familiar and unfamiliar! I invited myself to sit at their table. While I can't say I was as talkative as I could (should?) have been, I wasn't as quiet as I was yesterday. I even managed to exchange mobile phone info with the girl from my class.
My afternoon wasn't very productive. I came back to dorm, got caught up in a lot of e-mail and internet shenanigans and ended up making a brief novelty post this afternoon. I caught the end of the day's sumo action which continues to entertain me more than anybody else in this entire building, I think. Sumo led into the evening news, which I watched a portion of using the English-language audio. Nothing huge in the news today, although I did learn that the Japanese government is trying to locate some 150+ citizens who had registered their addresses in the area hit by Hurricane Katrina. So far, none of them have turned up dead but there are apparently quite a few who they couldn't find via door-to-door searching. I haven't heard much about the political effect of the storm on the President or anyone else for that matter, I guess that kind of story wouldn't interest many people over here. It's all the rage on our international version of CNN though.
I went out to find supper after that and I somehow found a place I had never seen before while walking through nearby Makino. I'm routinely surprised by the lack of regular business hours around here. I was walking down what seems to be a major commercial street at six thirty PM and 90% of the businesses were closed, although on a given day I'm never sure which ones will be open and which will be closed. It's frustrating, and not just because I spent my summer living in "the city that never sleeps." Don't forget, I grew up in a pretty small town and still, most small businesses were open well past seven, often as late or ten or eleven at night (especially if they served food).
The lights are on, but nobody's at work.
I came back to the dorm and saw some truly fascinating television. It was some kind of Otaku challenge where they had these five obsessive fans and the show put them through a variety of competitions to determine a "champion." I couldn't follow it perfectly but I got the gist of it. There were trivia questions with a physical aspect to them (in order to answer, they had to run up a semi-steep slope without shoes), visits to local hangouts in Akihabara and tours of their homes which were chock-full of disturbing collectibles like "cute" girly outfits which they occasionally wear in public. I think they should have brought out the UV light and checked for stains; now that's what people want to see! The "champion" was finally decided when the two finalists were given an opportunity to dress up an actual woman to their liking and see who could create the "cutest" fantasy girl.
Why was this so interesting to me? I think it's because I know the mindset of an obsessive fan. I've been there and come back. Indeed, I make conscious decisions on a daily basis not to let myself "geek out" over trivial entertainment. I am, in a way, irked that I have to hide part of myself because what's "cool" and what's not is entirely arbitrary. In theory, I should be allowed to carry on about anything I like without fear of being branded a "geek." Realistically, however, that's simply not the case. So I think recent decisions that I don't have to "be myself" aren't as radical as they might sound because, in truth, I'm never myself anyway.
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I'll never completely understand what it means to be 'myself.' I'll be a geek and reference a show I loved, My So-Called Life -- Angela asked a good question, 'How am I even supposed to know who that is?'
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