Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Marlon Brando, Man's Man
Since I was able to tell you yesterday about Sunday, perhaps today I can tell you about today? Maybe Monday and Tuesday too?
Monday: For our Japanese class we were recently given a new assignment where we had to break up into small groups and prepare a short skit. Monday afternoon was my group's first chance to get together and write the script. It was also our last chance since we had to hand it in on Tuesday. However, two of the four people in the group (one guy and one girl) suddenly couldn't make to our planned meeting so it was left to me and one other guy. We had already discussed an overall "story" to present so it wasn't like we were starting from scratch. Indeed, I wonder if having two of us write it actually saved time (as opposed to four people bumping heads).
Anyway, we banged the script out in Japanese pretty quickly which I'm quite proud of, especially when you compare it to the last time I tried this. Back then we wrote most of it in English and Kazu had to help me put it into Japanese. This time, we worked it straight into Japanese with a little help from a dictionary. Here's the fun part: as "penance" for not helping, we wrote the other guy's lines in a distinctly feminine voice and we made him act very girly.
As for the story, we stuck to our original idea that there would be a couple going on a trip to Hokkaido (which happens to be where our teacher comes from). Once in Hokkaido, I was supposed to be an annoying guy who started harassing them, in particular the young lady. The major change is that now I actually succeed in stealing the girl away from the hyper-feminine guy. You might accuse me of turning this into a vanity project but I assure you that my writing partner was strongly pushing this idea forward; I merely accepted his suggestions and helped shape them into an amusing script. We got the script back today and I was pleasantly surprised at how few grammatical errors there were, considering how much slang my character used. Guess I'm getting better at this whole "foreign language" business.
In other academic news, I got one of my midterms back from last week, in particular the easier of the two. I got a B+ which is not as good as I expected although still quite good. It's going to get better since it was determined during class that one of the multiple-choice questions was unfairly worded so I'll be receiving credit for that one. That may bump me up to an A- which looks a lot nicer than (although it is functionally similar to) a B+. No word yet on the harder of the two exams yet.
Tuesday: I only had two classes yesterday and most of my free time was devoted to catching up on the blog. We had a bit of fun in our Japanese class when the teacher decided to give us a brief overview of Kansai-ben, the (in)famous dialect of Japanese used in this region. I don't think there's truly an American equivalent although given its association with comedy, I'm tempted to compare it to the Boston accent since it has an inherently silly sound to it. If you ever want to make a Japanese person laugh, no matter how serious they might appear, using some Kansai-ben is guaranteed to make them crack (especially if you're a foreigner)!
I'd also like relate an amusing anecdote about shopping here in Japan. As you might expect, American music is quite popular here and it is often heard in stores and many public venues. The funny part is you never know what kind of music you're going to hear. In major department stores and malls, I hear a lot of Beatles tunes. In bars the music is usually classic rock like Jimi Hendrix. Dance clubs play, well, dance music like...whatever it is people dance to! You can read about my club experience from last month and read the comments for a little more on that.
Anyway, there's one particular supermarket nearby called "Top World." Nearly everytime I go in there, they're playing rap music. While rap in a grocery store is already incongruous, the hilarious part is it's often hardcore or gangsta rap and it's always uncensored to boot. Imagine walking through the produce section and hearing "Slam" by Onyx or "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Dogg. It doesn't bother me at all; indeed, I'm down with a lot of rap being an amateur rapper myself. I just can't get over the juxtaposition of mundane activities like picking up eggs with "Rollin' down the street smokin' endo..." in my ears.
Wednesday: Hey, that's today! Consider yourselves up to date on me! I have four classes every Wednesday which is a bit of a pain. I had a Japanese test this morning but I'm sure you all know by now that I destroy Japanese tests...if I get anything less than a 96% I'll be stunned.
It ended up being a later Wednesday than normal because our class met for an evening viewing of Sayonara starring a young Marlon Brando. I've got to admit I've had precious little experience with young Brando; nearly all of his work that I've seen has been from the 1970s or later. If you haven't seen this one, Brando plays a very masculine man: an ace fighter pilot with a curious Southern drawl and apparently a knack for soft kisses. Now I consider myself to be a pretty good kisser but this guy was something else. He kisses one girl in this film and it's so good she tells a friend about it and the friend falls in love with Brando. Now that's a kiss!
There's no school tomorrow because it's "Culture Day" here in Japan. As you can guess I'll be spending the day with Mako but you'll never guess where we're going. You'll have to wait and find out the answer tomorrow.
P.S. In the last week there's been a lot of chatter about the comments getting "offensive." This puts me in an awkward position because I don't want to censor anyone but I don't want people to feel hurt either. So if anything you read was offensive, allow me to apologize. On the other hand, I don't want to discourage anyone from leaving a comment they think might amuse others. Hopefully, we can find a middle ground and everyone will be happy.
Monday: For our Japanese class we were recently given a new assignment where we had to break up into small groups and prepare a short skit. Monday afternoon was my group's first chance to get together and write the script. It was also our last chance since we had to hand it in on Tuesday. However, two of the four people in the group (one guy and one girl) suddenly couldn't make to our planned meeting so it was left to me and one other guy. We had already discussed an overall "story" to present so it wasn't like we were starting from scratch. Indeed, I wonder if having two of us write it actually saved time (as opposed to four people bumping heads).
Anyway, we banged the script out in Japanese pretty quickly which I'm quite proud of, especially when you compare it to the last time I tried this. Back then we wrote most of it in English and Kazu had to help me put it into Japanese. This time, we worked it straight into Japanese with a little help from a dictionary. Here's the fun part: as "penance" for not helping, we wrote the other guy's lines in a distinctly feminine voice and we made him act very girly.
As for the story, we stuck to our original idea that there would be a couple going on a trip to Hokkaido (which happens to be where our teacher comes from). Once in Hokkaido, I was supposed to be an annoying guy who started harassing them, in particular the young lady. The major change is that now I actually succeed in stealing the girl away from the hyper-feminine guy. You might accuse me of turning this into a vanity project but I assure you that my writing partner was strongly pushing this idea forward; I merely accepted his suggestions and helped shape them into an amusing script. We got the script back today and I was pleasantly surprised at how few grammatical errors there were, considering how much slang my character used. Guess I'm getting better at this whole "foreign language" business.
In other academic news, I got one of my midterms back from last week, in particular the easier of the two. I got a B+ which is not as good as I expected although still quite good. It's going to get better since it was determined during class that one of the multiple-choice questions was unfairly worded so I'll be receiving credit for that one. That may bump me up to an A- which looks a lot nicer than (although it is functionally similar to) a B+. No word yet on the harder of the two exams yet.
Tuesday: I only had two classes yesterday and most of my free time was devoted to catching up on the blog. We had a bit of fun in our Japanese class when the teacher decided to give us a brief overview of Kansai-ben, the (in)famous dialect of Japanese used in this region. I don't think there's truly an American equivalent although given its association with comedy, I'm tempted to compare it to the Boston accent since it has an inherently silly sound to it. If you ever want to make a Japanese person laugh, no matter how serious they might appear, using some Kansai-ben is guaranteed to make them crack (especially if you're a foreigner)!
I'd also like relate an amusing anecdote about shopping here in Japan. As you might expect, American music is quite popular here and it is often heard in stores and many public venues. The funny part is you never know what kind of music you're going to hear. In major department stores and malls, I hear a lot of Beatles tunes. In bars the music is usually classic rock like Jimi Hendrix. Dance clubs play, well, dance music like...whatever it is people dance to! You can read about my club experience from last month and read the comments for a little more on that.
Anyway, there's one particular supermarket nearby called "Top World." Nearly everytime I go in there, they're playing rap music. While rap in a grocery store is already incongruous, the hilarious part is it's often hardcore or gangsta rap and it's always uncensored to boot. Imagine walking through the produce section and hearing "Slam" by Onyx or "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Dogg. It doesn't bother me at all; indeed, I'm down with a lot of rap being an amateur rapper myself. I just can't get over the juxtaposition of mundane activities like picking up eggs with "Rollin' down the street smokin' endo..." in my ears.
Wednesday: Hey, that's today! Consider yourselves up to date on me! I have four classes every Wednesday which is a bit of a pain. I had a Japanese test this morning but I'm sure you all know by now that I destroy Japanese tests...if I get anything less than a 96% I'll be stunned.
It ended up being a later Wednesday than normal because our class met for an evening viewing of Sayonara starring a young Marlon Brando. I've got to admit I've had precious little experience with young Brando; nearly all of his work that I've seen has been from the 1970s or later. If you haven't seen this one, Brando plays a very masculine man: an ace fighter pilot with a curious Southern drawl and apparently a knack for soft kisses. Now I consider myself to be a pretty good kisser but this guy was something else. He kisses one girl in this film and it's so good she tells a friend about it and the friend falls in love with Brando. Now that's a kiss!
There's no school tomorrow because it's "Culture Day" here in Japan. As you can guess I'll be spending the day with Mako but you'll never guess where we're going. You'll have to wait and find out the answer tomorrow.
P.S. In the last week there's been a lot of chatter about the comments getting "offensive." This puts me in an awkward position because I don't want to censor anyone but I don't want people to feel hurt either. So if anything you read was offensive, allow me to apologize. On the other hand, I don't want to discourage anyone from leaving a comment they think might amuse others. Hopefully, we can find a middle ground and everyone will be happy.
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Well thanks for the update, and congratulations to a good script.
Have fun on your date tomorrow with Mako.
A question though, is the keyboard in Japan like the one here or does it look different. I know in Europe the letters are arranged in a different order. Was just wondering about that.
Have fun on your date tomorrow with Mako.
A question though, is the keyboard in Japan like the one here or does it look different. I know in Europe the letters are arranged in a different order. Was just wondering about that.
You know I'm obsessed with Brando, right??? Of COURSE I've seen "Sayonara!" It's sad what happens to his friend... :(
But Brando?
Oh!!! Yes!!!
Wait... I shouldn't go any further, lest I become as lewd as some of your previous commenters.
Dan, when you're back in the states, you and I are going to do a Brando movie night. It will be a revelation. I guarantee it.
-h
Fan Tan ;)
But Brando?
Oh!!! Yes!!!
Wait... I shouldn't go any further, lest I become as lewd as some of your previous commenters.
Dan, when you're back in the states, you and I are going to do a Brando movie night. It will be a revelation. I guarantee it.
-h
Fan Tan ;)
Anon: Whatever...
Dani: The keyboard is mostly the same, although there are a lot of different models available in Japan. Most of the computers I use are there for international students so they're exactly the same. Some of the computers I use have a few symbol keys in different places but the letters are all the same.
Hyde: I knew you'd be thrilled to talk about Brando and I figured you saw this movie. Hearing his southern accent was a little weird! I'd be happy to receive a lesson in Brando from you when I get back.
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.Dani: The keyboard is mostly the same, although there are a lot of different models available in Japan. Most of the computers I use are there for international students so they're exactly the same. Some of the computers I use have a few symbol keys in different places but the letters are all the same.
Hyde: I knew you'd be thrilled to talk about Brando and I figured you saw this movie. Hearing his southern accent was a little weird! I'd be happy to receive a lesson in Brando from you when I get back.
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Be sociable! No sign-up is required!
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