Hi guys, I'm in Japan

[The Six]

Well, I've actually been here a while, but haven't bothered to make a deal out of it until now. I'll just use this thread to post various thoughts on what it's like here.

I saw one, maybe two houses with actual Christmas lights up. I know that it really has no meaning to most people here besides presents and having parties, but they still blast the same Christmas music throughout supermarkets and malls. I think the Japanese people that work in these places either become immune to it, or have long ago been driven to the brink of insanity, and just tolerate it until they finally explode. I dread going to the frozen section of the grocery store, because the same chirpy song is played over it incessantly. They do enjoy lighting up various parts of the cities during winter, though. Even the downtown area of Kobe was shut down for a walking tour, with tons of booths of food set up.
The food, though...the actual Japanese food is fine, but the things that they do to Western food is very strange. Just basically take a dish, put some corn, mayo, and a fried egg on it, and you turned it Japanese. Maize does not belong on pizza, and I only said maize because I didn't want to use the word corn twice.
But yeah, I'll post more later. I do have to say that I think studying abroad is a good reccomendation for most anybody in college. I never even thought I could actually do it until I got a flyer from school.

[KevinP]

What part of Japan are you in?

I'm in Korea, and have been since 1999.

[Kullervo]

Who is in Japan?

[Gustav]

Who is in Japan?

good question, from time to time, some stranger would come from nowhere and say something like this, assuming that we all knew his identity.

[Bonehelm]

Well enjoy your time, 井戸はあなたの時間を楽しみ、思慮深く使い、そして日本の楽しみを有することを望む。

[greg]

good question, from time to time, some stranger would come from nowhere and say something like this, assuming that we all knew his identity.

I remember The Six.


I'm also interested to know which part of Japan you're living in.... Kobe?

[greg]

Well enjoy your time, 井戸はあなたの時間を楽しみ、思慮深く使い、そして日本の楽しみを有することを望む。

wtf?!
you're looking to have a good time in a well?
sure, as long as someone is there to take you out...

[Drasko]

Who is in Japan?

The Six was a member some time ago, can't say that I actually remember much about him/her but he/she was the originator of one of my favorite diner threads - TCTAT, which I'm gonna bump up right now.

[The Six]

I'm in Kyoto, the city with a thousand temples and shrines, but only one place to hang out at during night. Unless you're fine with neighboorhood bars or things like that, Shijo, past the downtown area is the only area in the city that will actually have people in it at night.
Most people rely on the trains to get home. There are a lot of cars, and tons of bicycles, but the usual method of transportation seems to be the trains. But since they all end at around midnight, if you miss it, then you either take a taxi, which is ridiculously expensive, or wander the streets. But you can also pick my favorite, which is staying overnight at an internet cafe or karaoke. Unless you're really anal about being about to shower or something, those are really great places to stay. Actually, the internet cafes have showers-not enticing ones, but at least they're there. It's also really cheap. You could stay overnight in karaoke for 15-20 bucks, and the cafe could be less than that.
And then there's always McDonald's. The ones with 24 dining areas are pretty safe to sleep in. Especially if you're a foreigner, they're actually less likely to make you leave.

I actually haven't seen the panty vending machines yet. I've seen ones with ramen, and other soup, but nothing too weird...maybe Kyoto isn't the best place for that stuff.

Oh, and speaking of trains, it's nice to live in a city that actually has competent public transportation. When I first got here, I could hardly understand how to use these things: not because of the language barrier, there's plenty of English signs, anyway, but because the concept of this public transportation is so strange. I just wanted to drive everywhere, like in LA. All they had was a subway that went in one direction, and that crazy Orange Line bus that nobody understood, and had like 3 accidents in the first week it opened. Here I can get to Osaka and back for 6 dollars or so. I guess that's about the same distance from LA to Anaheim.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

井戸はあなたの時間を楽しみ、思慮深く使い、そして日本の楽しみを有することを望む

This is so true
Need to watch the movie "Erleuchtung garantiert" again, with Ochsenknecht & Wöhler, great fun, two germans as foreigners in a very strange world (Tokyo) searching for enlightenment and truth... Good fun.

@The six: I do not understand: Why should people sleep in internet cafe's or McDonalds?

[Iconito]

The Six was a member some time ago [...] he/she was the originator of one of my favorite diner threads - TCTAT, which I'm gonna bump up right now.

Amen. Welcome back, Six!

[Bonehelm]

wtf?!
you're looking to have a good time in a well?
sure, as long as someone is there to take you out...

sry for the typo rofl

[Daverz]

@The six: I do not understand: Why should people sleep in internet cafe's or McDonalds?

Waiting for the trains to start running again was the impression I got.

[The Six]

Yeah. You have to stay somewhere if the trains are over, and it's better to sleep in a cafe than pay some really high price for a taxi, I think. Maybe I couldn't explain it well enough; the longer I'm here, the worse my english gets.

I study the Japanese language now, but I'd like to actually enter a music school here to learn traditional Japanese music, and continue composing classical. Most people go to Europe if they're going to study abroad anywhere for classical music, but I think there's something interesting here with the way that scene is developing.

Every morning on the way to school I see those schoolgirls with those ridiculously huge socks are. Also, even though it's freezing, they still have to wear those skirts. The morning is especially cold. Even midnight on New Year's I saw girls walking around in short shorts. It was, like, 30 degrees F. Everyone I've asked about this says it's all about fashion. I guess if you're legs have no feeling in them, then the cold doesn't really matter.

About New Year's, the ritual for that here is strange in that it brings out how the ancient mixes with the new. It's weird enough going to some old temple, where it's quiet and feels like you're a thousand miles away from civilization, then walking out five feet into an ultra modern city. On New Year's they all go to a shrine, and are supposed to participate in a Buddhist ritual that involves clapping and praying. But the inside of the shrine is like a festival, with food booths and Wiis being given away in raffles. I don't know if even half the people that go are actual serious Buddhists or not.

But at least the food's good.

Japanese people also really wealky yell when the clock turns midnight. I could hardly even tell.

[KevinP]

I don't know if even half the people that go are actual serious Buddhists or not.

Not.

Well, I can't say 'half' of them aren't but I do know people commonly go to such things regardless of beliefs. They're more of a cultural (in the 'cultural centre' sense) activity than a religious one.

But at least the food's good.

Tell me you've been to Osaka and had some okonomiyaki. If you haven't yet, then I'm rejecting your claim as naive. :-)

[маразм1]

watch out for pikachu

[greg]

watch out for pikachu

and godzilla, too

[The Six]

I've done both, unless you mean have okonomiyaki in Osaka, then no. Osaka's pretty interesting, but probably the dirtiest place in Japan I could go to.

[KevinP]

I do mean okonomiyaki in Osaka. It's a regional speciality and is better there than than anywhere else in Japan.

[BorisG]

Please list new & used classical music CD stores in Tokyo.