Internet Ninja

In the West, I'm what you'd call an Internet pirate. Put shortly (through the experience of many mistakes) I've decent tech & Internet savvy.
In case this point hasn't been made clear enough; life in Japan REQUIRES a cellphone, don't let anyone convince you otherwise. That was my mistake.

Now, while in Japan, I use my Google mail and Facebook to keep in contact with people in Japan & elsewhere. I still keep up with a number of webcomic series. I also keep up with gaming news and ironically, most of that has been coming from the West. I try looking for anime to watch, not on TV because new anime is mostly !"#$%&, but finding it in a format I can watch is hard, I've looked for Japanese TV series as well, but I have less chances with that. I also occasionally download a song or look up lyrics. There's also this web log thing I write in from time to time but that wouldn't interest you.

I usually find a wireless hotspot so I can use my PSP to access the Internet. Webcomics are easy, it just takes a moment to load the large image. Gaming sties are harder, but if you turn off all the settings you can at least get the text. I follow their podcasts (via RSS). Finding anime to download isn't the trouble, it's getting it in a format you can use on a PSP and most of them can't download directly to the PSP. Songs are easier, and I've found a site for that. I favor the mobile Facebook site because it's simpler, faster, has better options, has the necessary applications and hasn't changed since I started using it. As for the blog (and Picasa account, which saves all the photos), it's hooked up to Google mail, I send the entries as e-mails and receive comments as posts (how many times have I written that?). I can even use Skype (up for chat?). Basically only YouTube and Microsoft elude me, the latter is no big loss and the former wouldn't be if I could find downloadable good anime.

The main limitations are that it uses wireless internet and it can olny type 511 characters of two languages (English plus one) at a time. I try to make up for this by knowing a good number of hotspots, setting the default language to Japanese and multi-posting (sorry), also, I'm getting very fast at typing on it. On occasion I'll also use a computer and in general I check my messages a lot (more often than I get any). Regardless, when people here realize I don't have a cellphone (despite having e-mail, what they use for messaging), it's a real turn off for them.

webcomics: xkcd, megatokyo, real life comics, three panel soul, applegeeks, 8-bit theater
gaming: IGN, Game Trailers, PSN
anime: PSPcrazy, anime4PSP, crunchyroll
music: lyricwiki, mp3raid
blog: geoffcard, memoirs of an ALT, [whatever-Brie's-current-blog's-name-is, sorry I forgot], シャーネルさんは日本の中ですよ。

Please note, I don't have permissions to post links, well, that and I forgot Brie's, again sorry, I'm not trying to pull something, I honestly just forgot.

My day

starts with me wondering why I can't sleep (00:00 is technically the day's beginning), during which I fall asleep only to wake up thinking the same thing(7:30). I get ready for school, check my e-mail & Facebook, then walk twenty minutes to school.
In homeroom (8:35), there are no cliques as a whole with which I'm friends, only random people. So, while they group up and chat, I find something to do quietly. In class, I try to pay half-attention, or at least pay more attention than the average classmate, specifically, don't fall asleep. In math class, I'm no different regardless of country. I figure out the work (which onlyoccasionally involves doing it), try to think of inspiration for drawings and talk to anyone willing.
On Wednesdays & Fridays I have Japanese lessons at the Rifare, where I quickly check my e-mail, Facebook and one other site (4:10), then sit down to try (& fail) to finish that day's homework in five minutes (4:55). Class goes from five to six thirty and consists mostly of talking with the exchange students and ALTs while repeating easy sentence structures. We try to continue the conversations walking back to our respective "homes." Once alone, I start to run (7:00).
Back at "home" I eat supper with my host family then use the computer... I'll do a seperate post for my digital usage. Afterwards, I sit down to watch whatever they're watching on TV. I'd like to say I strike up a chat, they turn off the TV and there's a pleasant conversation (another thing I miss, listening to the long conversations between guests and my Dad, who is at said time, keeping me there against my will to be downstairs playing video games), however they seem extremely focused and interested in the TV (which I find boring) and any conversation I do get is either short and simple or broken (not always because of me). I'll talk about Japanese TV in another entry. Eventually I take a shower and tr to go to sleep.

Enjoying Myself

In response to ojisan's comment: no, it's not too much to ask for me to enjoy myself, but that would have been easier if I had taken the exams. You see, getting people to see me as a "real boy" is hard since I disappear when the calendar strikes twelve. Taking the tests, aside from being a refreshing battle of wits, would show them that I can be serious* (more-so than not sleeping), gaining me some respect with people who consider me "yankee" (the, debatably appropriate, Japanese word for a delinquent) (id est and individual).
I would help more if I passed. Then again, out doing them wouldn't be good. They don't seem to mind that I missed the exams, but the respect from the teachers I could have gotten would have been useful today when my math III teacher caught me doing what I usually do in a math classes**. He took it well enough and I'd already seen the day's work, but still.
Anyways, exams here are pretty straight forward. Walk into a barren class. Sit. Be quiet. Receive one, two or three large pieces of paper. Do a lot of straight forward questions. Try one or two hard questions (I've never found more than that, but the math tests here only have about nine questions (granted, with sub questions) on them). Wait the rest of the eighty minutes. Pray you got more than thirty percent. I don't see the work here as particularly difficult, mostly just straight forward math (physics & math) or memorization (everything else).

Now, the flip side, I do enjoy myself and I do get a lot of free time. Too much in fact, which is why an empty week scares me. I already go on five hour walks just to pass the time. I hang out and vent with the other exchange students walking around, singing in karaoke, going to concerts and playing at arcades. More time from me is a dangerous thing.
That being said, the Japanese have very little of the stuff as they have either a job or club to fill every instant of it. It doesn't help that their expensive wallets are empty. Though I just found out that a few classmates in my math class have what the call "go home club" (in Japanese) which is to say, a lack there of. I'm wondering if they'd let me join.

*highly debatable
**drawing

3-8 Math Class

Three eight stands for third year (of high school), eigth class. I was also with this class's name-sake last year, another fun group, but I get more out of my conversations now that their in spoken form.
It's my favourite class, full of talkative & socialable otaku who accept me as a modern Japanese culture enthusist (id est manga, anime, video games et cetera). I can even participate in class (not by sleeping) and do the work (it being in math, a language of its own). With this class, I take:
Math III, graphing, in which I've done well considering. The teacher, same as last year, the class's homeroom teacher, really is a good math teacher (a pleasant rarity no matter where you are).
Math II, vectors. I understand most of it, but something still elude me, including vector multiplication, the teacher is old and has a good vocabulary of math in English. It's a different teacher from last year and I'm getting the hang of things I didn't the first time around.
Math C, algebra?, I looked ahead and it looks like geometry. This is mostly busywork, pages and pages of it. Regardless, I'm trying to catch up (not that I started behind, I just usually refuse to do busywork). The yeacher is young and seems nervously annoyed. I'm not even sure I've heard him speak, he just writes down examples on the board.
Physics II, which seems to jump around. We started in electricity, moved on to movement and now we're into wave. With the subject hopping and having done some of this last year, it's hard to say whether I'm doing good or bad. Regardless, Jim Burke's physics 12 booklet has helped a lot and is very well done (I look forward to making its cheatsheet). The teacher is different from last year and average and like every physics teacher has a collection of toys.
All in all, I like this class, much more than my own and wish they had placed me in it, I requested it and I'm taking forty percent of its classes regardless (they only have three class I can't do), but they probably figure I'll distract it more than it itself & gaijin popping in & out already do.
I also still wish I could have taken the exams.

School's not Cool (lame title, I know)

Japan being what it is, there's little functional difference. The
skirts are longer, the classes subjects more Western and the official
stuff is more stuck up. 遊学 is actually not as good as most of the
public schools. One of my friends said he went to 遊学 because he failed
to get into the public school he wanted.
A Westerner would see them all as private schools.

All the Small Things

I'm not doing this from a PSP for once (though I'm still using e-mail
rather than blogspot itself), so I can type all I want. I'm going to
use this one to get a lot of things that would be annoying to fit into
other posts for flow or space issues. Anyways...

I keep hearing about people asking about me, which I'm glad to hear,
and guessing by the lack of people actually contacting me (I'm active
on Skype, e-mail and Facebook, the latter two I use to contact people
in Japan as well) I seem to make better conversation as a topic than a
participant (I say that lightheartedly).

I've noticed a few of the exchange students getting homesick. I'm not
sure what I am, I have amy thoughts of home, but I'm going to finish
my stay in Japan. Our reasons are mostly the same, getting through to
the Japanese is difficult, they have a lifestyle so different from
what we're used to, we don't fit in, we miss our homes, the West &
freedom, and so on. At this point, I can't even say that I've made
friends I'll keep as such when back in Canada, though I hope to with
the band (Group of Poverty).

When I do get back, I'll be sure to act differently that I did before
to exchange students. It's a wierd life to live. Also, if they're
anything like what we are here, we mostly just want to get out, have
fun and experience. This is something the Japanese do not have the
time or money for, having club for so much of every day and having
wallets worth more than they'll ever carry (or some other overpriced
item).

I'm getting rather good with the ex-word electronic dictionary. I even
use the English dictionary (useful for someone like me who is often
more precise than accurate), though I don't always agree with its
definitions (humans are not seperate from animals).

My legs are getting worn out again from all my walks. I don't even
need a map anymore except for addresses. Five hours or more walking, I
could really use some company, or just something to do.

No, I'll (likely) not be getting a Japanese girlfriend. They seem to
find me attractive & scary, but I don't want to go out with someone
who cares most about status and looks and ...oh, I already made the
rest of this point in Japanese Character part three (I can't link in
an e-mail, there's a sidebar, it was written this month, it should be
easy to find).

Also, the only on of us to get a real relationship... well... let's
just say that with him as an example, I don't see how it helps.

Also, I hear the others talking about who cultural Japanese classes
they have like caligraphy. My school is a private school for jocks
specializing in soccer, baseball and batton twirling. I know of no
cultural Japanese classes aside from history and literature. I'm
going to try to catch up in history, ancient literature would take too
much effort to get into (even the Japanese don't understand it) and
modern literature was great, when I did have it, but as past tense
suggests, I no longer do.

Trying to find classes I could do, and hence learn from (both Japanese
and curiculum) I tried out maths and sciences, but for some reason,
when I switched classes at the end of the year, they put me back into
a regular class with not subjects of interest, so forty percent of my
time is spent outside my homeroom class. I'm even doing better
socially with the science class.

As for English class, it's mostly direct translation, interpertation
and studying the technicalities of English grammar. They can't read
Dr. Seuss without a dictionary and yet the teachers have them figuring
out the stranger uses of grammar or translating texts they'll never
have use for. It's even boring for me, I don't blame them for hating
English seeing this (though French may be disliked regardless of how
bad your class is, or if you've had any)(kidding, real French
treachers are actually good at teaching the language).

That should be enough for now.

Living at Lives part eight

Yesterday I met up with Niko(not 肉) and we hung around in 金沢. I'd been
a while(not counting 富山, a long while). We played in the arcades, ate
italian and went to... yet another concert. I found out about this one
a few hours before. My friends invited us for free so I could record
them again. The same preformance by them is getting a bit
dull(especially through a camera) but the next band put on a real
preformance with the singer going crazy even walking on walls. From
there we headed to our "homes."

Testing

My grades here are scholastically meaningless but I was wanting to
take this week's exams anyways as more of a test of wits. Annoyingly,
my teachers hadn't prepared for this (I refuse special treatement, all
I would need is the test itself). So, I have this week off, ironically
to my dislike.

Notes

Coincidentally I'll be removing my blog from my Facebook notes.
And I'll dump all my pictures on Google.
Next, sorry to Brie, your an easy target.
I need sleep.
If you're reading this at the proper relative time, goodnight.

A guy I met on Facebook

After talking so much with Callan about video games and not worrying,
chatting with Niku brings fresh perspective of Japan's pop scene,
history and literature. While for the latter we usually speak mostly
of the West's(well, he talks and I take notes)(I need to find a French
copy of Monte Cristo), Japan still ranks our most spoken topic. He's
done a lot to intigrate into Japanese life including a knowledge of
the language and television(, anime, manga, music, idols &cetera) that
might rival a Japanese's.

Living at Lives part seven

After Group of Poverty Brie had to go home and 肉 & I needed wanted to
stay out, so we walked to one of the busier bus stops(even though
Brie's house was closer). She got on a bus and 肉 & I went to an arcade
where we faced each other in mortal combat, in Street Fighter Four
where(backwards of real life) I beat him, than let him continue to
beat the game on my play. Then to our "homes."
We also made .mp3 files of the concert.

Living at Lives part six

Now, back to topics other than annoying Bri.
The place had more people than usual. We waited through a few
preformances, went to get food with the punk rockers from my
school(ate it after the show due to their miscalculation), and enjoyed
Group of Poverty's show. Well, Bri enjoyed it, 肉 did too, but he said
they copy Blink182 a bit bnd I stood holding a camera filming the
whole time. It was nice to get it all but a concert isn't as fun
through an LCD screen. Next time I'm going cameraless.

Living at Lives part five

To Brie: actually the plan was generally to meet at your conveniance,
which was last said to be from school(and you said you'd e-mail a
time, which you didn't, but I know Kinshou to finish at fifteen
fifteen anyways). Regardless of local, I was your way of getting to
the concert and I had wake YOU up to go.
To Laura: Later she made the mistake of telling me not to say anything
thinking it would be better and that I couldn't keep quiet THAT long.

Living at Lives part four

Another yesterday, another concert. Since Brie complained it took too
long to get from school to home(because she takes buses around the
city rather than walking a very direct route) to VanvanV4, I told her
I'd meet her at school to take her there, but she skipped her last few
classes to sleep at home, leaving me waiting until I e-mailed her and
ran the fifteen minutes back to her house to bring her to VanvanV4,
which I had passed on my way. 肉, on the other hand, got there on his
own.

Living at Lives part three

The crowd was almost packed, mostly with school kids who played as
much a part as most of the bands, jumping around, throwing their hands
up and keeping something almost constant enough to be a heart beat
with clapping.
Also, Japanese boy have crazier hair than anime(most girls just go
straight), hence my new hobby: watching hairstyles melt on stage or
otherwise detiriorate off stage.
l'm going again tonight to record GoP's show in higher quality and rip
the music, they even asked me to.
Next Friday too.

Living at Lives part two

The next band looked like a cheap... (dammit can I give up the
politically acceptable act for low soceity topics? sorry if I offend)
whore with bored univerity student backup.
Than a cool all girls band(& I'll add, while being fully dressed).
A few others and the main act was spify looking and knew how to
entertain a crowd (especially a Japanese one). The lead had Style and
when he spoke I imagined subtitles like those on Japanese talk shows.

Living at Lives part one

(again, live is Japanese for concert: live performance)
So, I went to my other friends live yesterday. Good for his first
time, but he seriously needs to look up, maybe even just open his
eyes. The keyboardist needs to play in sync with the rest, a bit
quieter than the guitar and maybe more than two chords that don't fit.
But that's mostly me being an [politically incorrect]. The band's
dream is to have a full concert, hence the name No Vacancy.

Friends Among Foreigners finale

should you know such a stranger, that you give them a something they
can hold on to(not literally. ...well maybe if your a girl-).
Actually, even where I call home, I've hoped for that, though this
case is a more simple request of friendship than that.
Anyways,
oh, I didn't know Facebook notes could have pictures.
I didn't realize that marker was permanent.
I should update more consistently.
PSPs can type 511 characters in 3 internet tabs.
English club tomorrow.
Shaza's real name is Sharn-I can't spell.

Friends Among Foreigners continued (quite directly)

I've also made many mistakes, like encouraging Wind Person and, while
perhaps not a mistake, Middle of the Forest is not what I look for in
a friend.
This coupled with the character of exchange students makes them good
friends. Also the latter topic is our most constant. Without them I
might ha... actually I did go mad but there were other reasons for
that too. Anyways, like I said, they have great character. I see a
saint, polititian and ...playboy..., among others, in the making.
Still, I'd request that

Friends Among Foreigners

I've found making local friends hard. The language barrier is more
than learning another language, it's also dealing with limitations,
having others realize you can speak their tongue and everyone dealing
with your shortcomings. Next, getting people to realize your living
here and not just a passerby, making something lasting is tiring.
You'll chat for hours and then they'll never look you up again. You
have to keep pushing relentlessly. I would like to have Japanese
friends, but they're hard to come by.

Blog now on Facebook

Well, if you see this in my notes it is. In hindsight you probably
can't see the pictures on Facebook. I might remove it.
Anyways, as the pictures you can't see on Facebook show, I got a
hair-cut, "a" meaning about ten-thousand, in a way in which I will not
need them cut again any time soon. Still, people have to ASK if I got
it cut. I tell the Japanese I got it by being rude to a samurai and
duck in time. People say short hair is better on me but I like fooling
around with my hair when it gets long.

Otaku

Originally this meant a specialty, now-a-days it means a Japanese geek
or nerd. They scare me. They are obsessed with gundam, other anime or
video games to the point where their social skills are failing. They
speak a lot, rather quickly and while nervously avoiding looking at
their speakee, me. Also, being a western geek or nerd(I've never
decided which), I've often had trouble prooving I have a life
alongside my interests. Luckily the otaku in math class are sane.

Japanese Conversation

Japanese is quite easy to pick up, so long as you don't intend to do
anything with it. A few greetings, watching your honouraries, some
adjectives and a useful phrase or two and you could get by. This is
because it's colloquial and context sensitive. With few exceptions you
can safely assume the topic is that at hand. Just use an adjective
whenever it might apply and say "hai" consistently whenever someone
talks to you. No variety needed.

My Growing Collection

In picture:
Manga: Bloody Monday, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, DNAngel, Doraemon &
Ghost in the Shell.
Games: Metal Gear Portable Ops & Plus, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy
Tactics Zodiac Brave Story, Patapon, Monster Hunter 2G, Katamari
Damashi.
Figures: Cloud, Haruhi, Tachikomas, Gundams: Wing 0, Deathsyth Hell,
Serpentine, ? & ?.
Tech: PSP2k(with headset) , PSP3k(with camera & tv plug-ins), Ex-Word
and solar car.
Other: can, card case, food, dog tags(yes, mine).
Movies: Last Samurai, Shawshank, Dark Knight.

Fall Leaves Field

I went for the anime merchandise, stores of figurines, cosplay, manga,
posters towels, magazines, easily half of all that was pornographic. I
got two mini タチコマ, a guitar for my Haruhi figure(it's actually too
big, but it has its place), a Laughing Man card case, something random
from Lucky Star(which turned out to be bread in a can) and a figure
of Cloud from a Disney game. It was awesome, but I wish I'd seen some
real cosplay. Meh, I'll go to a con.... someday.

Eastern Metro Three

Went to Yokohama, arguably part of 東京. I saw a high unicycle juggling
act by Westerners using cheesy (good) Japanese, rode 東京's famous
farris wheel (wishing I had a girlfriend to ride with), but the sky
has been clouded and visibility not as good as I like. Then I had
lunch with my host family and headed to Autum Leaf Field (秋葉原,
akihabara, akiba) with my host brother. From there it was back to the
airport, 金沢 and "home."

Japanese Character III Personal opinion, biased, subjective and not absolute. Reread this title before flaming.

I prefer the West. Things here are too stuctured and safe for me. I
live for the chaos of liberty. They don't to try as hard or reach for
as high, nor do they have as much depth. They look and act much
younger. They're simpler, though that seems good for them. Also, I
couldn't live with someone whom considers herself less than, and
"serves," me. I prefer my (argueably pseudo)equality. I also have yet
to understand their teaching methods.
I don't hate, I prefer.
Still glad I came.

Japanese Character II Reality

Reality isn't so perfect and even their system isn't
perfect(girl<boy<mother<father<senior<emporer>time), but much of it
works. They still have the odd man out and contact with the West adds
more confusion but they're pretty steady, even with commerce.
Conformity makes them good at implementing new systems. They're fine
for work as many willingly opt for blue or white collars.

Japanese Character I The Idea

The Japanese have their way. It's one of unity, where each acts as
part of all. Their interdependency, of women servicing the men, who
service the country, which in turn services the whole is ideal. In
zeal's stead they have longterm, mostly lifelong devotion. This
coupled with their adherence makes life straightforward, and without
drive for difficulty, their enjoyments more simple. This is the safe,
structured society for which they live.

E. M. Three

That turned out to be good, us both being fans. It had a history of
the series, many life size models, trailers for Salvation (here, "T4")
and artwork. In the same building we saw an exhibition on fear, ASIMO
robot in the.... clockwork?, and more permenant showings of biology,
the ISS, robotics and human's wasteful ways. We had a quick browse
through a shop for a Japanese television station and headed back. Now
I'm in my hotel room and he's out drinking with a friend, hence I have
time for this.

Eastern Metropolis Two

Today my host father and I tried to find something fun to do in Tokyo.
Knowing I have an interest in manga, he pointed something out and I
said, "okay." As it turned out to hints of no cosplay, no pictures and
too many girls it was (if you don't know what this is, do not search
it or look it up, I'm serious) yaoi doujin, which I quickly registered
and suggested we leave, which we did. So, after that he suggested a
Terminator exhibition.

Eastern Metropolis

is what 東京 means. My host family and I flew over Japan's monotonous
sky for a trip during Golden Week. Today we walked around to the
famous gate and tower(look them up yourself). My virtigo kicked in a
few times running up the tower.
Than we walked through busy steets and clothing stores. I'm currently
in a single's hotel room. I'll see to photos and more updates, 秋葉原 day
after tomorrow.

富山 trip 三 pictures

1 富山 from above at night.
2 An artificial waterfall covering the view of a park in 富山.
3 Said park.
4 A true Australian.
5 Robots.
6 Cutting そば.
7 Tools at the smokey house.
8 Tourist shop.
9 Souveigner food, a Japanese thing.
10 View.
11 Village.
12 Mountains.
13 Looks like a secret cliffside hide-out.
14 Village fields.
15 Scenery.
16 Breakdancing near the park.
17 Dance. Repeat eighteen times to see the whole thing.

富山 Trip 二

We also saw a dance that I found easy enough to almost sleep to(after
ten seconds of video).
Than it was on to a historical town of similar houses where I
practiced climbing Japanese walls(to a few stares, but those are
constant and it was fun).
One stop for nothing and back to 金沢 we went.
I spent the trip chatting with Shaza who, with the other Aussies
accept me as one of their own.

富山 Trip 一

Not much to say about this one. We went to 富山, got on a bus of locals
and foreigners and visited a few more of the world heritage sites
&cetera Japan seems to mass produce.
First was a minor robot show. While well built, they didn't do much,
just basic "press/see this, do this" software. Also, they can't keep
up to me in DDR.
Then we made そば. I found it neither bad, nor satisfying, but I liked cutting it.
Then on to an exile's blackmarket blackpowder house fill with smoke,
famous for its good ventilation.