Friday, October 28, 2005
Still Exhausted!
Didn't post last night because I went out with Scott. Had a very busy day today so let's get caught up. More pictures and some stuff you probably won't understand coming at you today!
Translation: "The birth of XI. A new history of KOF begins."
Thursday: I only had two classes and I spent a decent portion of my afternoon down at the 50 Yen arcade. What was the occasion? Yesterday was the release date for the newest chapter in the King of Fighters series and I was eager to see what they had come up with. My first impressions are pretty good, although the general din of the arcade didn't allow me to really take in much of the sound effects or music. The lineup is a bit odd, with a few returning characters I don't think anyone missed and some new ones who aren't going to win me over. There's definitely one cool-looking mo'fo' called Oswald and a sub-boss armed with a variety of weapons named Shion. The last boss is some brightly colored freak named Magaki that (as usual) seems completely unbeatable thanks to huge projectiles that bounce around the screen.
I would have liked to actually play the game instead of just watch it but there's a problem in Japanese arcades: they're full of sharks! Not literally, of course, but that's an appropriate analogy to describe these head-hunting players. Somehow, despite the fact that this chapter came out on Wednesday, they already know and have near-expert control of three or four different characters (including some brand new ones) and they love to beat the crap out of novices. The problem is not unique to Japan, you can see it in any Chinatown arcade as well. I'm tempted to say it's an "Asian" thing but that can't be right. Just because every shark I have ever seen has been Asian does not make it a unique ability of Asians.
Anyway, since everyone was all about the new game I thought I might try to enjoy myself on the relatively old NeoGeo Battle Coliseum but as soon as I sat down to play (yeah, Japanese arcades have seats, not to mention ashtrays) the sharks smelled my blood and dispatched me with great haste. You can always tell when a shark approaches because newer games have these special cards you can buy that record your progress, allow you to display a nickname on screen and pick from extra color palettes. If someone joins your game and breaks out one of these cards, you're in trouble.
In the evening I went into Osaka and hung out with Scott. We ate dinner at Yoshinoya and had a few drinks around the Umeda area. After getting a buzz on we went to a 50 Yen arcade and played a few games. Scott tried his hand at KOFXI and did his best amongst the sharks. I think he did win a round or two eventually. I tried NGBC again and managed to actually avoid human players entirely (although I still lost).
Friday: Today was less about classes and more about a field trip to a local elementary school. I was really psyched about this, not because I was eager to get out of school work but because I knew we were getting a rare opportunity. It's important to understand something about Japan: if you're a foreigner, you're special. Sometimes "special" can be bad, like when the cops assume you're up to no good, but when it comes to children "special" is really fun. Foreigners are automatically celebrities in the eyes of most Japanese kids. One of my favorite memories from my trip to Japan four years ago was when I walked past a school yard and stopped to watch the kids play baseball. They stopped playing and came over to the fence to try and talk to me.
Back to today's story: Along with some forty KG students I arrived at the school to an outrageous welcome: children were lined up at their windows, calling and waving to us. I thought the architecture of the school was a little depressing: lots of concrete and not that much sunlight in the halls. I also don't understand why Japanese kids always seem to play in dirt fields. Can't someone lay down some grass for them?
We spent most of the morning with some fifth graders in a lab/kitchen making udon. It's surprising easy, at least once you have the dough ready. I was impressed by the very fact that these fifth graders were learning to cook and working with real knives to boot. No U.S. school would risk a lawsuit by handing a kitchen blade over to an eleven year old.
In between preparing and cooking the udon we went outside for recess. I ended up in a giant, sprawling dodgeball game which I enjoyed thoroughly. We were all on a giant dirt field with lots of kids playing different games but there were no barriers so the games often collided. The soccer players got the worst end of this because they had to take great care not to get hit by the dodge balls, probably ruining their concentration.
After we cooked and ate the udon, it was time for lunch. Yeah, that sounds redundant but I guess there wasn't enough udon to count as a meal. We ate with some second graders who were a lot more hyperactive than the fifth graders. They asked me a lot of questions and spoke very fast so I couldn't make out much of what they wanted. The strangest question I did understand was "Do you have any kids?" I suppose that's not so surprising given my age; I bet I'm the same age as some of their parents! It was easy to appease them though, all I had to do was sign autographs. Like I said, foreigners are celebrities in Japan.
After lunch we all went back to the campus and the kids all waved and shouted "Bye Bye" to us. It was a very good experience, in part because I have aspirations to teach in the future but mostly because I love attention. You can see photos and a short video clip right here.
Between dodge ball and being up late last night I am very tired. I think I'll try to turn in early tonight. It's funny, I have absolutely no plans tomorrow at all. I would have liked to watch some baseball but both the World Series and the Japan Series ended in four-game sweeps! Guess that does it for sports on TV until the next Sumo tournament in November. Maybe I'll try to learn how to cook?
Translation: "The birth of XI. A new history of KOF begins."
Thursday: I only had two classes and I spent a decent portion of my afternoon down at the 50 Yen arcade. What was the occasion? Yesterday was the release date for the newest chapter in the King of Fighters series and I was eager to see what they had come up with. My first impressions are pretty good, although the general din of the arcade didn't allow me to really take in much of the sound effects or music. The lineup is a bit odd, with a few returning characters I don't think anyone missed and some new ones who aren't going to win me over. There's definitely one cool-looking mo'fo' called Oswald and a sub-boss armed with a variety of weapons named Shion. The last boss is some brightly colored freak named Magaki that (as usual) seems completely unbeatable thanks to huge projectiles that bounce around the screen.
I would have liked to actually play the game instead of just watch it but there's a problem in Japanese arcades: they're full of sharks! Not literally, of course, but that's an appropriate analogy to describe these head-hunting players. Somehow, despite the fact that this chapter came out on Wednesday, they already know and have near-expert control of three or four different characters (including some brand new ones) and they love to beat the crap out of novices. The problem is not unique to Japan, you can see it in any Chinatown arcade as well. I'm tempted to say it's an "Asian" thing but that can't be right. Just because every shark I have ever seen has been Asian does not make it a unique ability of Asians.
Anyway, since everyone was all about the new game I thought I might try to enjoy myself on the relatively old NeoGeo Battle Coliseum but as soon as I sat down to play (yeah, Japanese arcades have seats, not to mention ashtrays) the sharks smelled my blood and dispatched me with great haste. You can always tell when a shark approaches because newer games have these special cards you can buy that record your progress, allow you to display a nickname on screen and pick from extra color palettes. If someone joins your game and breaks out one of these cards, you're in trouble.
In the evening I went into Osaka and hung out with Scott. We ate dinner at Yoshinoya and had a few drinks around the Umeda area. After getting a buzz on we went to a 50 Yen arcade and played a few games. Scott tried his hand at KOFXI and did his best amongst the sharks. I think he did win a round or two eventually. I tried NGBC again and managed to actually avoid human players entirely (although I still lost).
Friday: Today was less about classes and more about a field trip to a local elementary school. I was really psyched about this, not because I was eager to get out of school work but because I knew we were getting a rare opportunity. It's important to understand something about Japan: if you're a foreigner, you're special. Sometimes "special" can be bad, like when the cops assume you're up to no good, but when it comes to children "special" is really fun. Foreigners are automatically celebrities in the eyes of most Japanese kids. One of my favorite memories from my trip to Japan four years ago was when I walked past a school yard and stopped to watch the kids play baseball. They stopped playing and came over to the fence to try and talk to me.
Back to today's story: Along with some forty KG students I arrived at the school to an outrageous welcome: children were lined up at their windows, calling and waving to us. I thought the architecture of the school was a little depressing: lots of concrete and not that much sunlight in the halls. I also don't understand why Japanese kids always seem to play in dirt fields. Can't someone lay down some grass for them?
We spent most of the morning with some fifth graders in a lab/kitchen making udon. It's surprising easy, at least once you have the dough ready. I was impressed by the very fact that these fifth graders were learning to cook and working with real knives to boot. No U.S. school would risk a lawsuit by handing a kitchen blade over to an eleven year old.
In between preparing and cooking the udon we went outside for recess. I ended up in a giant, sprawling dodgeball game which I enjoyed thoroughly. We were all on a giant dirt field with lots of kids playing different games but there were no barriers so the games often collided. The soccer players got the worst end of this because they had to take great care not to get hit by the dodge balls, probably ruining their concentration.
After we cooked and ate the udon, it was time for lunch. Yeah, that sounds redundant but I guess there wasn't enough udon to count as a meal. We ate with some second graders who were a lot more hyperactive than the fifth graders. They asked me a lot of questions and spoke very fast so I couldn't make out much of what they wanted. The strangest question I did understand was "Do you have any kids?" I suppose that's not so surprising given my age; I bet I'm the same age as some of their parents! It was easy to appease them though, all I had to do was sign autographs. Like I said, foreigners are celebrities in Japan.
After lunch we all went back to the campus and the kids all waved and shouted "Bye Bye" to us. It was a very good experience, in part because I have aspirations to teach in the future but mostly because I love attention. You can see photos and a short video clip right here.
Between dodge ball and being up late last night I am very tired. I think I'll try to turn in early tonight. It's funny, I have absolutely no plans tomorrow at all. I would have liked to watch some baseball but both the World Series and the Japan Series ended in four-game sweeps! Guess that does it for sports on TV until the next Sumo tournament in November. Maybe I'll try to learn how to cook?
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