Phoning It In

Yep, it's a terrible post title all right, but appropriate, since I have very little too say.

I got a cell phone recently. Now I don't really like cell phones as it is, but I figured I pretty much had to get a phone while I'm here and everyone in Japan has a cell phone so....

Unfortunately, it turns out my phone has no bi-lingual option and changing the phone is a huge expensive chore. Frankly, the only thing I really wanted the phone for was the camera and now I don't know how to use it. Goddammit! *sigh*

I'm also starting to get a little bummed out, seeing as I have no friends here and there isn't much to do. I don't have a lot of money to spend right now, so I got to think about how to eat economically until the next payday and I'm still waiting for my comics to get to me.

So not much happening right now, but I thought you'd like the update.

A Serious Parlor on a Serious Earth

Hey, you want to know where I live? You want to know?

That's right. I live above GOTHAM FUCKING CITY! YEAH!

I wanted to mention this much earlier but I wanted to wait until I got a picture. I forgot I took this shortly after I got here before my camera stopped working, but I also really wanted a good night shot when the place was lit up like Vegas.

You may have guess already but Gotham city is a pachinko parlor, pachinko being an extremely popular gaming device that combines the loudness of pinball and playing requires the skill usually reserved for one-armed bandits. That's right, pachinko is all this and more too. And by more I mean less. I assume. I actually haven't played pachinko so maybe there's a subtle element that I'm missing but I don't really like any game that requires luck and luck alone. If I can't at least attempt to help the outcome in my favour than I can't see the appeal. Which is why I was really surprised that there seemed to be a whole manga magazine centered around pachinko. And not just comedies but also competition manga. How can that not get old really fast. Sigh.

Anyway, I have not actually entered Gotham City yet, so I don't know what it's like, but peering in I get an idea: pretty much like any pachinko parlor. Just rows and rows of machines. Still, I guess I should enter one to get the whole feel, but I don't think I'll like it. Still, I did see an interesting machine that was part video game and part VLT so maybe I'll soften up on the whole thing (not that I have hard feelings towards them at this point).

But the point is I live above Gotham City. I mean, think about this. I begin the last leg of my journey home with a heavy-ass bag still nervous about the whole affair. I did see a red fox in a white snowy field, which I took to be a good sign (though I'm not sure I should, since the fox is a trickster in Japanese mythology). Then I get to the place I'll be spending the next year and find that I'll be living above Gotham City. I mean, I was seriously unsure if I followed the map wrong or what. It was a truly surreal experience and a somewhat surreal country. I guess I should have broken out my copy of The Dark Knight Returns and read through it that night, but at that time I was looking for something a little more upbeat than that so I started rereading Bone.

Now make no mistake, this place has "seeing how Batman-ish we can make this place without getting in trouble" written all over it. There are flags with the Batsymbol minus the ears and pictures that feature Batman's silhouette with a pointed head (and when I can I'll get pictures of those for you too, and maybe some from inside, if they'll let me). This place is like the pachinko parlor equivalent of those action figures that you find at dollar stores that are clearly knock-offs of a much more successful character. But this is a lot more fun because it's in big lights and it's a lot less thrown together looking than a cheap toy.

Now there are a couple other things that I feel I'll just have to take pictures of and show you (just telling you would not have the same impact), but this was the one that meant the most, so I figured I may as well get this one out of the way. By the way, a warning: any sort of Gotham City joke will be old by the time I get back home so don't bother.

Now, I'm more of a Marvel zombie and am always quick to point out that while I love super-hero comics, that's not the extent of my taste. Still, this makes me feel a little giddy, just knowing that those bat wings are flashing in on this snowy winter's night.

I really wish the blog menus weren't in Japanese

I didn't think I'd be able to get back on to my blog. Well, it's been many moons since I last posted and I haven't had much time to go into detail. I guess there were a lot of weird small things that I wanted to remember for my first blog that never really stuck with me. Fewer things are around to strike me as strange then when I first came here. I don 't think it's just me getting used to the culture because I swear fewer things are talking to me. But I guess part of that is what part of town I wander into.

I promise to have some great pictures when I get a working camera (the one Dad sent with me is wonky at best), and trust me, there's some weird thing's you'll want to see.

Classes are going well though my first couple weeks where a little discouraging. I feel very confident that they're not going to fire me and that I'm getting much better as a teacher. Let me explain. Before I could teach I had to take On-The-Job training in Sapporo (a rather large city). I liked teaching but I still lacked confidence and at the end of the first three days they told me I needed another day. Then after that day they told me I'd be training more when I got back to Obihiro. Now I harbour a little resentment to the guy who told me this, but really he's a good guy. He's just the messenger is all, and I appreciate his honest and fair criticism. But it always feels so negative when he does. My roommate tells me thats just the way it is in Japan and that I shouldn't worry too much. Anyway, I feel that I'm getting better with each lesson and the students generally seem to like me. I do enjoy teaching and watching them learn, but I still need to refine my skills in the department of saying things in a concise and simple manner as possible. Not easy for a chatty cathy like myself, but I'm getting better.

I'm getting used to the food, which for the most part is noodles. Seriously, I'm eating a lot less rice than I expected. But part of that is that I didn't see rice at the grocery store (probably looking in the wrong place) and our rice cooker is really nasty dirty. I'm scared to clean it. I try to cook for myself, but only a few stir fries and a spaghettini (like thin spaghetti) dinner turned out well. I liked Tako Yaki at first but slowly I realised I liked everything about except a certain goop inside (the octopus part and the coating where great). Butadon is good (an Obihiro specialty), and I find that pretty much anything with noodles is enjoyable. Still, I will miss some of the food from back home, like decent pizza and anything with cheese (the cheese here is generally not good)

On work days I eat out (since I usually work nights) and generally get something from the food court downstairs, which is pretty OK. I also find that obento is a a somewhat decent price in the day but gets really cheap in the evening. Like 30% off stuff that's only about 6 bucks anyway. At the end of the evening you can see that there's quite a few discount stickers on them. Still, since the bento boxes have things crammed with preservatives (like, more than is legally allowed in Canada) it's better to go light on them.

At this point I am attempting to save this blog. Unfortunately, the blog site I'm on has a hiragana menu, so I might be posting this early. For that I'm sorry.

Edit: Dammit, I knew this would happen.

Anyhoo, I guess this post will end prematurely and I'll have a post with much juicier details than lunch sometime within the next few days.