Thursday, August 09, 2007
All the News that's Fit to Translate
Before I type anything else, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. I know this day will have come and gone by the time I get this message online, but at least your gift should arrive on time.
I'm sitting here in my mansion with a lot of free time on my hands. As I wrote yesterday, my BOE offers an extra seven days off during summer vacation and I have been strongly encouraged, if not outright instructed, to take those days during this August even though I just got here. So I have no work through next Wednesday, followed by a special Osaka orientation meeting on Thursday, which immediately leads into another day off. I'm still waiting on Internet, with cable TV looking to take even longer. I suppose I should get out there and travel but I'm a little put off by this intense weather. Plus, it's not like I've gotten any salary yet so I don't want to embark on any large scale adventures. There's always drinking, I guess?
All my news these days is being filtered through Japanese broadcasters so I only hear about issues that might appeal to the Japanese public as a whole. I know about the bridge that collapsed and Barry's record-breaking homer but I have no idea what any of the Presidential candidates are up to. In some ways, it's a little relaxing to not have to deal with daily updates on celebrity arrests or the bizarre, likely criminal behavior of the Bush administration. The flip side, of course, is that I get daily updates about Japanese celebrities and politicians who are equally as uninteresting to me. There is a pretty crazy scandal of sorts surrounding Asashoryu right now, but that's more frustrating than interesting. I want to see sumo wrestlers clash on the dohyo, not listen to endless prattle from the higher-ups about whether or not Asashoryu is allowed to go home during his suspension. And why does his stable master wear that shirt with little stripes on the shoulders? Who is that guy, an Admiral?
I'm sitting here in my mansion with a lot of free time on my hands. As I wrote yesterday, my BOE offers an extra seven days off during summer vacation and I have been strongly encouraged, if not outright instructed, to take those days during this August even though I just got here. So I have no work through next Wednesday, followed by a special Osaka orientation meeting on Thursday, which immediately leads into another day off. I'm still waiting on Internet, with cable TV looking to take even longer. I suppose I should get out there and travel but I'm a little put off by this intense weather. Plus, it's not like I've gotten any salary yet so I don't want to embark on any large scale adventures. There's always drinking, I guess?
All my news these days is being filtered through Japanese broadcasters so I only hear about issues that might appeal to the Japanese public as a whole. I know about the bridge that collapsed and Barry's record-breaking homer but I have no idea what any of the Presidential candidates are up to. In some ways, it's a little relaxing to not have to deal with daily updates on celebrity arrests or the bizarre, likely criminal behavior of the Bush administration. The flip side, of course, is that I get daily updates about Japanese celebrities and politicians who are equally as uninteresting to me. There is a pretty crazy scandal of sorts surrounding Asashoryu right now, but that's more frustrating than interesting. I want to see sumo wrestlers clash on the dohyo, not listen to endless prattle from the higher-ups about whether or not Asashoryu is allowed to go home during his suspension. And why does his stable master wear that shirt with little stripes on the shoulders? Who is that guy, an Admiral?
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