The Adventures of Aaron-san (in Japan)

August 31 - Nice and easy

Apart from North Korea firing missles over my head (all right, maybe not, but it is not that far away), I can't say too much else is happening. I got to make some CDs today (my specialty around here). The Japanese economy is still looking good (well, better than it was not long ago by far). Now, if only the exchange rate would hit 0.02... Karate was interesting, though it is still discouraging to see 6 year olds with black belts insluting me with terms I don't understand, but I can always shut them up by either standing next to them in a threatening manner (I am huge compared to them), or reply "Eigo ga wakarimasen. Furansujin desu. Parlez vous francais?" (I do not understand English, I am French. Do you speak french?). Maybe next week I will try German.

August 30 - More earthquakes?

This is just getting annoying now. A few are fine, but constant rumbles all through the day are no fun. They did no damage, but it really bugs me to be moved back and forth while I am standing. Went out for a walk today, until it rained anyway. Then I was confined to doing laundry and cleaning. Wow, I actually saved some space by trashing those old boxes. Now I can store at least a little more. I guess it is okay I didn't buy too much this weekend. After all, I am still saving for that camcorder I want. All the same, by the time I save enough money, it will be half price anyway. Prices change as fast as the music top-10 charts do around here (a scary thought).

August 29 - Bills, bills.

Well, after paying the lunch bill and such yesterday, I didn't have a whole heck of a lot of money left, so I just went "window shopping" in Matsumoto (I walked to places I never walked just for a change). There were some good clothing shops, but a tad too expensive for me. Looked at the "newest" CDs in the Wave, but again, due to lack of funds... ah well, perhaps next week. I did manage to get some magazines from the Parco Book Center. Now that I can actually read parts of it, I don't feel so left out of society. We never did get that typhoon yet, but we have been getting earthquakes quite a bit today. Nothing big, just a little rumble and some shaking, but earthquakes none the less. Spent most of the day just relaxing and catching up on rest I so need. Made myself some Chef-boyardee (sp?) pasta for dinner, and that was good. Ippei came over for a while and we played on my Playstation for a while, and then afterwards I just read some more of my magazines before going to bed.

August 28 - Karate Party

Put whatever final touches I could put on the Lancaster manual. There are a few features that did not make it to Alpha, but oh well, they can wait. So, got it all put together and ready to be put on CD, and that will have to be good enough. If they ever do this to me again (give me one week to turn a design spec into a whole online manual for shipment to other countries, and just complain about why is it not done, I will just hop on a plane and come home. Oh well, at least Huyen-san's party was a great break. It is right in front of Hirooka-eki (station) and served some great shuba-shuba (thinly sliced beef which you dip in boiling water for a few seconds, then in sauce before you eat). Also had the broiled eel. Actually tasted very good. I expected it, like most other strange seafood, to taste pitiful if I could eat it at all, but fortunately, it was more than edible. Afterwards, we all went to a kareoke bar upstairs and watched a bunch of black belts humiliate themselves with their singing of songs I can not even pronounce. It ran late, so I just went home to bed after that.

August 27 - Almost done

Well, the Lancaster manual was almost done, except that one of the web browsers (IE 3.0) does not support some of the tags used in the overall design. Worst of all, there is no workaround. I was asked by Hiranuma-san if they planned on fixing the problem, to which I responded "They did, it's called IE 4.0). I guess that is one browser we can't support, much to the dismay of the other staff here. I will just happily code until whatever works, works. After all, it is only an alpha. Also, it is a good thing I check the news at work, because we are going to get a typhoon hitting around here sometime this weekend. Hope it is nothing too serious. Karate was good tonight, though. We all practised out katas for the upcoming test in a few weeks, and got quite a bit done. Hopefully, I soon will not have to worry about the white belt matching the white of the doogi.

August 26 - Getting done

After a length Japanese class this morning (a very nice break), I was pulled aside and asked if I would like to write the "Japanese Proficiency Test" coming up next December. I would probably able to write the level 3 test, she said (There are four levels, with 1 being the hardest) but I should consider level 4 first. I haven't decided on this yet, because it is in Tokyo, but it will also be during my break, which I hope to spend at least a little of in Tokyo anyway. Also, it is an "offical" certificate saying I can speak (and read and write I guess) Japanese to a certain point. Ah well, got a temporary fix for Hiranuma-san's problem, but it is far from perfect, though it will have to do for now. Finally got around to some more Lancaster work, and that is going reasonably well, so I will keep my fingers crossed.

August 25 - As if I don't already have enough to do

Geez, I am trying to get the alpha done (which, fortunately, has been moved till next Monday) when Hiranuma san (actually Tanaka-san first) requested I look at a "problem" with another manual I was not working on. Well, problem, seems a little light, more like demanded, but with not so much vocal indication. Tried my best, but never got all of the problem solved (again, a cross-browser and cross-language problem). I hope it was worth it to put off my vacation until December. I hope I can survive that long. Was here quite late again, but this time not because I had to, but rather to help prevent working late on Friday or, worse yet, coming in on the weekend. That is okay, nothing is open on Tuesday here anyway.

August 24 - Too much work...

I think it is too much work for one person to take some design specs and turn it into a printer manual in less than a week. It is coming along, slowly, but it is none the less. At least I got a chance to take out my frustrations on the good old big black punching bag at karate. Worked on the blue belt "kata" tonight since the test is coming up soon (sometime in September). Not too difficult now, but because I am so tall (?), I have to stretch more and excert more work to get lower to the ground than other people, so that is an interesting obstacle. I think everything will be okay, though. I just have to keep working on it. Also, Huyen-san is having a farewell party this Friday. It is another 5000 yen, but I really *should* go if I still want to be viewed in a good light by everyone. I think she is the last, though, and we will all go have a big meal somewhere in either Shiojiri or Matsumoto (which I really could use seeing as I just keep losing weight and my clothes barely fit anymore). I am trying not to spend too much this month, as I would really like my own camcorder to record the life here, and food bills add up (I have an EPSON lunch bill of around 8400 yen this month, which makes it scary to think how much I would spend if the meals were full price). So basically, I get a pay cheque, pay all the bills (including phone), and I will have not much to live on (again), but more than enough for food and basic entertainment.

August 23 - Rain, sun, rain...

Can't say it was beautiful today. It started all right, then it rained, and then it got sunny, and then it rained... I really could not do all that much today, so I did my usual cleaning routine, and tried to figure out how to save some space (I am desparately low on free space). The highlight of the day was that I was actually able to use Andy's old pot to cook some soup (tomato I bought at the JOY 401). Tasted real good, though there was something different about it which I can not quite identify yet. I kept the label so I can find out just what is different. Saw Ash later on. I heard about how much money he spent taking his sisters that came around Japan the last two weeks, and I figure it was pretty much his entire pay cheque. The running joke was "and what, you didn't get them a going away present?" Let this be a warning, if anyone comes over to visit, I can't afford to take you all around Japan, so you are on your own past Tokyo unless you want to come to Hirooka. Heard that Ash blew something like 6500 yen in subway tickets alone for one day. That's crazy. Also, is it just me, or are the spiders getting bigger. I went on a personal "crusade" to genocide them all, so they won't be bugging me anytime soon.

August 22 - Another wonderful day in Matsumoto

Sure was nice today, but hot (though still not as hot as Tokyo. With the humidex, I have yet to see the temperature drop below 40). Got a chance to try some KFC today, too. Very strange, KFC is nothing like back home. It is a curry house with some chicken. I had a combo that actually had chicken, but it also came with "double sauce" curried rice. Also, what happened to the 11 herbs and spices? Here it is a cheese skin (tasted all right, though not what I expected). At least coke is universal. There were still a lot of street vendors out and about selling their stuff. For reasons still unknown, they think I am Vietnamese. Personally, I don't see the resemblance, and to be honest, I don't know if that was meant to be an insult or not. I know being called a south Korean is a particularly nasty insult here, but that is another story. Went to Parco (the huge mall here) and looked around for a bit. Nice to see the "Wave" music store keeps up to date with not only Japanese music, but American music, too. Funny thing is that while any Japanese CD will run the equivalent of $25-$30 (except on sale), the American CDs are sometimes cheaper than in America (weird). I still try to pick up any cheap Japanese CDs when I can, though, as they make great souveniers. Ah, after a nice relaxing day, I praticed my Japanese a little and played on my Playstation (Final Fantasy Tactics) to practice my Kanji and Kana reading.

August 21 - Had to take the plunge

Today was the first day I tried to convert the new Lancaster printer manual. The content converted all right, even though the layout was all whacked. Ah well. Ash finally returned today (though not to work). Seems he had a nice two week vacation. Also, Tony, one of the guys in Suwa went to Hong Kong for two weeks just recently, so I hope he is having a good time (of course, his family is Chinese, so no surprise there). Let me see, Peter never took a vacation this summer because he is using it in October to go back to Canada for a little bit (I hear), and I will take mine in mid-december when I get three weeks and a bit off. Lots of time to explore Japan. However, you need money to do that (transportation is so expoensive (like most other things)). I could not even imagine paying $50 to use the 401 (or is that the 403) to hamilton, and another $50 on the way back. Now you see why the local roads are so crowded (and with crosswalks almost non-existent in cities (towns) like Hirooka, it can take a half hour before the traffic lightens up enough to dare to cross. Also, had to take out some more money (unfortunately). Seems completely starving is not a feasable idea right now.

August 20 - A step up in karate?

Okay, work first. I spent the day fixing every "little" problem people wanted fixed in Seychelles and Mauritius. Hopefully, that is it. Got a chance to work on the new printer, Lancaster, but most of it is still new to me, and the manual just got exponentially more complex (how I will get it all done (or not) I don't know). At least today was the tasty bento day, I can eat all of that. Sometimes, we get served the strangest food, like those black deep fried bananas on fish with tartar sauce. and there is this other sauce they sometimes put on chicken that is blue and smells like burnt fish! I don't even want to know what that is. I will have the ramen those days, thank you. Seems like the rest of last year's co-op students are leaving soon (a week or two). Then it will be three of us. Nice thing about having just about all of the interns coming from Waterloo is that you know when they are coming and leaving, and know roughly what they are talking about (there are some british and austrailians (not interns, but full time employees anyway) that we have no idea as to what they talk about half the time (and I figured out (not too long ago) that being "the cat's mother" is an insult). Oh well, it adds colour, I guess. Later on, I went to karate (surprise). Tonight, however, the master actually let me train with him (and only a month ago he would have thrown me in the beginners class so fast...) Tiring, but good exercise. I still like being one of the tallest in the whole group (there is one guy who is taller, though). Did my usual stop at Lawsons afterwards (convenience store) to pick up some refreshment. Geez, I need to take out some more money.

August 19 - Quick! Clean up the office before the suits get here!

That was basically the impression I got from everyone around here. Lock up all of the (catalogued) software, keep you manuals in order, etc. They seemed to complain about the lack of a proper "planning sheet" for the core team. Basically, you "should" write a document well in advance of the manual so you know what basic structure you should follow, but the pattern here tends to be write a basic draft, proofread, check, correct, and repeat until the final draft, which they were not too happy with. Well, I do not see the problem because seeing as we ship between 15-20 different printers a year (1-2 a month) meaning we have less than a month to design, build, write a manual for, and ship each printer. We just do not have the time to do all of this prepatory "planning" they want. Oh well, I guess it is not really much of my business, so I won't carry on about this. Spent most of the day adding new features into some online documentation (isn't it great that people out of nowhere come to you to announce new features that "must" be in the online manuals after the beta is already shipped). Sigh, perhaps some organization is needed afterall. Cooked up the last of the macaroni and cheese tonight. Tasted all right, but at least it wasn't fish pate (again). The last thing I want is more fish (which I was never particularly fond of anyway (except for the fish & chips meals)).

August 18

Got back a little dreary and wondered what was going on. Everything seemed okay, so I have been moved on to the next printer (one of them anyway) called Lancaster. This is not going to be fun. Not only has the style been changed again, but the core manual designers have thrown in new features and tags the script was not designed to handle. Furthermore, this has to be done by a week Thursday. I don't know if that is enough time. Helped Hiranuma-san with her printer (Mauritius) again. That manual was real buggy, but it seems all right for now (until the next data is shipped). Found out tomorrow some ISO guys are visiting the plant to check up on our "standards". Ah well, after a long day, I sat down to watch some "Hyaku-man challenge" and play some Playstation before sleeping (I am very tired for some reason).

August 17 - Clean up day

Did ALL my laundry and cleaned up my room today. Boy there was a lot (5 loads). Can't say I did much else. Well, I went to the Joy 401 and picked up some tacks and groceries (with the last of my money on-hand), so I spent the rest of the (rainy) day relaxing and basking in my Playstation glory. I think after this weekend, I deserve a good rest. Now, how to ship this stuff (for my parents) home...

August 16 - Back to Hirooka

Caught the 1:20 bus back to Matsumoto (where I caught the train to Hirooka). We all woke up late that morning, so all we had time to do was to watch some TV, eat breakfast, I went and bought a bottle of C.C. Club for Ippei's parents (they love the stuff), and headed to Shinjuku to catch the bus. The bus was very nice (and only 3200 yen). It took 3 hours to get home, but the bus was air conditioned, and there were videos playing on what cities we were driving by/through. After arriving in Matsumoto, I headed back to Hirooka where I stopped at a McDonalds for dinner, and went home to unpack and clean up. It sure is cooler in Nagano than in Tokyo (thank god)

August 15 - Akihabara and Mejiro (also, should have got more batteries)

Today was a brave day, for I went by myself to Akihabara to check out the latest in electronic joy. Ippei was busy, but considering he showed me how to get to and from his place, I should be all right. Made it to Ikebukuro and then to Akihabara all right, and that is where the fun begins. It is hard to tell where one shop ends and another begins. Some wonders of technology I saw were: a camcorder/digital camera 3/4 the size of a passport, DVD players the size of a Discman (and only 50000 yen), phone toys (don't ask), computer parts in bins in the middle of the street (literally), a 150000 yen air conditioner, the biggest Playstation store I ever saw (three stories), and tons and tons of cheesy speeches by salespeople. I couldn't believe how much of the day "flew" by, but it did. It was like one big city-wide festival all day every day. I took some shots just to show how busy the place is, and took some shots of the train station, where upon I headed back to Ippei's house for dinner (there was no place to eat in Akihabara). Afterwards, Ippei's family came over, and we all had fun "meeting" each other, though Ippei's cousins were afraid of me at first. Played some piano and juggled for them. They were so amused... Oh well, after explaining how to find Canada in an Atlas and a few glasses of sake, I headed to bed.

August 14 - Tokyo day 2

Ippei and I woke up around 10 (can't sleep in this weather) and headed to Ikebukuro to pick up his girlfriend (again). The three of us headed from there to Shinjuku where we saw the biggest department store I ever saw (14 stories). I hit the clothing shops and CD stores and Ippei and his girlfriend went off elsewhere. We met up later for some ice cream and from there we went to Shibuya. There we saw some great scenery (once we got high enough) and also found a 6 story bookstore, where I bought some special manga (Shinchan), and also some Tokyo guides. We then all went to Tokyu Hands, a souvenier shop. I got some more juggling balls for myself, and picked up a few small things for family back home. From there we went to Azakusa (sp?), a traditional Japanese-style type place with old-style architecture. Got some great shots of the place, though the people still dress "modern" and sort of kill the atmosphere. From there, we headed back to Shinjuku (lost yet?) and hit the SegaWorld grand arcade for a bit (I love that Daytona USA 2 game), before we put Ippei's girlfriend on a bus going home. From there, we headed home, had a light snack, and got some much needed rest.

August 13 - Off to Tokyo

Left with Ippei around 7:45AM for Tokyo. Picked up one of his friends in Suwa to drop off elsewhere in Tokyo. I just couldn't believe how humid it is there. On the way there, though, we passed Ash and his sisters from Canada on the bus from Matsumoto to Shinjuku (part of Tokyo). Called him up on my keitai (cell phone) as we passed them. Very funny situation. Ah well, we got to Tokyo around 10 or so and then went to drop off Ippei's friend, whose name I can't remember right now. Never really realized how big Tokyo was, because it took over an hour and a half to drive from his house to Ippei's house in Shakuji-kooen. Good god was it humid. Ippei does have a nice place, though, and because his grandfather ownes the land around his area, his neighbours are his aunt, uncle, and grandparents. I was surprised that everyone in his house insisted on speaking english (practice I guess). We all just crashed at Ippei's house that afternoon, and I taped some MTV Japan for a souvenier. We would go to Roppongi tonight for a bit of a celebration. After a really enjoyable dinner of gyu-niku and vegetables, we left for Roppongi. We took the "seibu ikebukuro" from Shakuji-kooen to Ikebukuro, the Yamanote line to Ebisu, and the subway to Roppongi. There we saw the Tokyo Tower, and went to some places Ippei said was "cool". By this time, we had met up with Ash, his sisters, Ippei's girlfriend, and a few of Ippei's other friends. So, we had a great time, but we also stayed later than the last subway that day, so we had to stay up until about 6 or so to catch the next subway and trains back home. I couldn't believe how many foreigners were there (or even still, Japanese women "hitting" on all these foreigners). Fortunately, today is 300 yen night everywhere in the city, because otherwise, I would have been paying 800yen for a small glass of coke and 500 yen for a small bottle of water. The pizza was good, though. I still laugh to think I am taller than most people here, where it is quite the opposite back home.

August 12 - Last day, and I am out of here

After a reasonably quiet morning, everyone in the core team seemed to fancy some new changes. Too bad I wasn't about to give it to them. I just couldn't explain to them that the CD is being made this afternoon, and I couldn't put in anymore changes for the beta. Also, one of them (I don't know who) started modifying some files on the network when they were being burned to CD and messed up the copy. I don't want to spread rumors, so I will just say that it was not a nice afternoon for someone. Stayed late to verify the CD, since I wouldn't be there on Monday for the actual "distribution". Afterwards, I packed my clothes and such for the big trip tomorrow morning.

August 11 - Nice day...to completely change a project's specs!

Yes, after a nice quiet morning, Nishi just changed the format of the online manual for reasons yet to be explained. Thus, I was not very happy that afternoon/evening. I got him to remove some items, but absolutely demanded on quite a few others (which he later dropped some when I asked him if he wanted a beta for tomorrow or not). So, after many conversions and many hours, it was finally finished (I think). I will have to write some documentation on the process tomorrow (should be okay), but geez, I went ahead and requested a "last day" on the schedule for design changes to the online manuals. If it weren't for the facts that Tanaka-san supported the changes, and that he determines my academic future (I have to pass one term, and this is my last co-op term), I would have told them to accept what had been approved up to yesterday. I shouldn't have to do this, seeing how little I make next to the full time employees here. At least assigning more people would have helped (they believe I alone am sufficient for the entire online manual team to convert the paper manuals. After getting back around 10 or so, I had a quick shower, noticed I am down another kg to 84, and went to bed until tomorrow. Thank god I leave for Tokyo in two days. I can't wait. Hmm, I need to take out some money tomorrow (still). See what happens when you get real busy?

August 10 - Hang around people who are leaving...

Work was pretty slow. After I made the "supposedly" final beta, I had some other small errands to run, but other than that the day flew by. Oh yes, I had my Japanese mid-term test, but with no major difficulties so far (after all, it is only the basics). Next lesson (two weeks from now since Ash is going on vacation and I have the next monday off) we are learning about Katakana. I think it is kind of humourous because in order to survive in this city (or any other around here) you have GOT to be able to read the katakana (it is on all the electric signs on businesses and on the side of most buildings around here (Kanji comes in second). Oh well, I could use the practice to make sure I have completely memorized all 92 kana (katakana and hiragana). In addition to the 50 or so Kanji I can at least distinguish and I think I am doing all right for now, though still a long ways off of true "conversational" Japanese, and my kana reading is a little slow compared to Japanese reading the same thing. Oh well, went to Karate tonight to realize a lot of people were on vacation already. There were only about 8 of us, but we got a real good workout, and even went though all the katas up to the green belt kata (I could only follow the white and blue belt katas though). Afterwards, Andy (who is leaving on the 20th) took me back to his room in the dorm and gave me some stuff (flashlight, coffee maker, and some pots and pans). Great (for me)! Best part was, he didn't charge me a yen for it (there are a lot of hand me downs here). Heck, I will have to do the same for some of my stuff next April or so (The TV is useless in N.A. even with a power converter and hard to ship anyway). Don't get me wrong, there is no way I am leaving my Minidisc recorder or Playstation here (albeit hard to ship...ah, I could just take my minidisc player with me when I leave since it's so small).

August 9 - A day in the park

Went to Matsumoto park (near the airport) today with everyone else from Waterloo and then some. Most of those that came here a year ago are leaving at this time, so we had a final bash. Nori leaves Monday (tomorrow), Andy leaves next week, Greg leaves the same time as Andy, and Clara and Huyen are leaving the end of the month, and then it will just be Me, Ash, and Peter in Hirooka. Oh yes, found out the only girl from UW that came here in my "group" (working south part of Japan), actually did leave for Canada. Seems she could not (and would) not accept some of the policies here, like women get paid a quarter less than men doing the same job, though she got a nicer apartment, and the location was superb I hear (beachfront), drivers insurance for women was three times that of mens (becuase, as all Japanese know (or believe anyway), women are worse drivers. Finally, because she wouldn't even try to accept the culture, she was not regarded very well by her bosses (and her feminist attitude offended most of her co-workers). I found this out from Steven (who also works there) who came up for the BBQ. It is a shame, really, but you can't come here expecting everyone to become "Canadian" and forget their Japanese background. Anyway, the day was beautiful, and the park was immense (water park, natural woods, BBQ pits galore, Basketball and Baseball (and soccer) fields, ponds, and even a rock climbing area. After we ate Huyen's wonderful meal of Chicken, salad, and some stuff I couldn't identify, we walked around the park and did whatever we pleased. Too bad my suntan lotion wore off in the afternoon (I got a slight sunburn on my face and neck because I didn't think we would be there all day). Everyone had a great blast, and Nori really enjoyed it. Andy was funny because his hair is four-coloured (blue in front, orange in the middle, sides are natural brown, and the back was black), and then some 3-year old walked by with exactly the same style hair (even with the colours in the same order), I guess it is a popular style. Oh well, after a long tiring day, we all went back and slept. Well, Ippei planned out trip to Tokyo, but I will know more of the details later.

August 8 - Haircut adventure (and what happened to all my money)

My hair is absolutely out of control now, as it hangs well over my eyes when not "forced" back. So, I went to Matsumoto to that barber shop I pass all the time to get a hair cut. I have never seen anything quite like this before. It is an assembly line where these 7 people take care of different tasks (trimming the top, trimming the side, washing, etc.) So, I was quite surprised to have to move around a lot. They were pretty good, though they're style scared me for a while (they move awfully fast). For instance, the one who cut the back of my hair used a giant straight razor to "shave" the back, and told me (if I am translating this correctly) "don't move, you could get cut very bad". Also, the guy doing the top of my head cut a little too fast for comfort, though it seemed to turn out okay. Not like back in Canada at all, but like it or not, I have to go to places like this if I want my hair cut (maybe there is a traditional style barber in Tokyo). Oh well, the price was right (1575 yen), so I can't complain too much, and only took 10 minutes. There were more sidewalk sales today, mostly junk, though there were a few T-shirts and a pair of shorts I managed to find for a reasonable (500 yen) price. Went to the "Makkudonarudozu" for lunch and picked up a "dabaru chizu setto" with large fries and cola (though admittedly their sizes are all different; i.e. a large Japanese size is a medium North American size, etc. Though the fries taste better here for some reason (probably because they are prepared when you order them (which explains the wait))). I noticed that I had almost 30000yen on me a week and a half ago, but now I am down to only 10000 yen. Hmm, money does go awfully fast here. Sigh, so much for saving money. I will have to take out another 20000yen before I go to Tokyo, and thus I will be down to 100000 yen in the bank until next pay day. Please don't anyone else pester me to tell me to stop buying things if I want to save money. In Japan, you "Can't" save money like in Canada (and coincidentally, I have mostly been buying necessities of life, as I have enough "electronic joy" to keep me amused). As I have said a million times already, everything is real expensive here (except electronics, but I can't eat electronics).

August 7 - Shiojiri Genba Matsuri

Today was a pretty short one, with Hiranuma-san and Tanaka-san off (and Hirasawa-san doing his usual company "surfing" of the web, it was a pretty slow day. The real fun started after work, though, when I ran to the school where I practice Karate every Monday and Thursday. One of my senseis drove me to the Shiojiri spot where our group would be. There we all put on our "happi" (festival outfit: like a summer vest that is supposed to hand wide open). There were plenty of drinks in the cart we lugged around, so for the evening we "danced" (in the traditional form) through Shiojiri with countless other groups for hours on end (I took some photos, but I don't know if they will turn out (quite dark). There were big flames, tons of people in strange outfits, and tons of people staring at me wondering what I was doing in the festival. Note: you needed to have reserved your group for this festival months in advance which, apparantely, our Karate group did. After hours of this stuff, we all (our group) went back to the school for a party. There were all kinds of food there (which I could eat), and everyone had a great time. Finally got home around midnight and went to bed, noticing that they didn't ask for my "Happi" back. I guess I have a nice souvenier, then.

August 6 - Japanese lessons and Karate

Oops, I forgot that today was the TP Publications meeting when Honma-sensei asked if there was any problems using today for the Japanese class (this week only). That's okay, I can't follow what is going on, and noone else seems to care (after all, EPSON is making money hand over fist with many hundreds of million yen in the nest egg, so what news do they need to hear?) The lesson was interesting. Today we did math in Japanese and practiced our counter systems (where english has 1, Japanese has at least 7 (Chinese, general counter, birds, other animals, long or slender objects, flat objects, and people). There might be another counter or two, but those are the only ones I remember. We have a "mid-term test" on Monday, on everything we learned so far, which shouldn't be too bad, considering I can use it everywhere (after all, I only live in Japan). After that, I got to eat the good bento for lunch (chicken, rice, and oranges). Some lunch menus are total crap (even for the Japanese) but Thursday is usually a good day for food. After the rest of the day breezed by, I got to go to Karate with a white, dry doogi this time. We practised a number of combination moves and blocks, and my "form" may be getting better, but my instructors are still concerned over my "control". We practise doing moves with others blocking and then countering, and every time I get to block and then counter, I end up hitting my partner (though I have enough control to lighten up the hit at the last minute). Needless to say, some are getting hesitant about being my sparring partner, especially when I am so much larger than them (remember my May post about people being incredible short here). Oh well, there are still quite a few weeks until September.

August 5 - Mauritius and Videos and stuff

Well, now that Seychelles is out of the way until they give me more data to convert, Hiranuma-san had me help her with Mauritius (another manual for another printer, but this one is for Japanese release only). So, seeing as it is a different layout, deifferent design, and in a different language, the conversion script doesn't exactly convert it the way everyone would like, so the script had to be customized for Mauritius (see why true automation is not always possible?) So, except for lunch and a few small breaks here and there, it was a whole day of Mauritius (joy). After that mess was over for the day, I went to the shi-o-ichi to return some videos I rented a while ago, and pick up some new ones (the Crayon Shinchan movie and some "Captain Tylor"). At least that's one thing that is cheap in Japan (video rental) or at least comparable to Canada. Also picked up some "Teao" to drink. I figured out what the o in Teao really means. It is iced tea with "0" calories. Of course, it doesn't sell quite as well as Pocari Sweat or Seaweed Fanta, but it still tasted good. Speaking of drinks, I wish cans of coffee crystals weren't so expensive. I can not imagine paying over $20 for a can back home (and this is not that big "Folgers" can either, more like the size of those little glass bottles). True, the coffee is better than anything I have ever had, but I still don't see why it is so expensive when I can get a mug of it at the coffee shop in Matsumoto for less than 100 yen.

August 4 - Get Seychelles working!

Was the cry of many a T.P. Publication worker today. Sigh, the script currently in use works with one type of file. When they go ahead and create their documents in a different program with a different format, the conversion script won't work (though I don't think they understood). As such, I spent most of the day re-writing the conversion script to work with this printer manual (and this one only, the next one will be different). And they wonder why the script can't be "all-purpose". If only they understood. Oh well, this is EPSON, not Sony (though both are making hideously high amount of profit). And they say Japan is in the worst recession since WWII. You would never know it by living here. As long as you are dealing only in Japan, everything is great, but when you start dealing with foreign markets, that is when the trouble starts (due to the weak yen). Hence, what I want is for the Japanese economy to skyrocket and the Canadian economy to fall into the abyss before I start exchanging money (of course, I wanted it the other way around when I came here). Saw a very strange commercial on TV today. It was about some new pizza they are selling at Pizza-La. It is called "Seafood Harvest". It looks absolutely disgusting, but I guess there is a market for it (hey, if there is competition for the chocolate and strawberry covered arrowroot biscuits market, anything is possible). From what I could see, this pizza had crab legs, shrimp, tako (octopus) and something else which I couldn't identify (though I can now identify tako at 50 feet (well, the smell is pretty unique too...). I think that was it for today. Oh yes, I notice that everyone in the office is speaking less and less english to me now (like they expect me to understand everything they are saying) I still don't pick up all the words, but I can get the gist of what they want (computer terms are pronounced roughly the same).

August 3 - All is (sort of) well

Did a lot today. First, after my regular checking of email (where was I yesterday from disgruntled karate masters) and doing the usual work, I got to take my bag of 10 yen coins (2300 yen worth) to the bank to exchange it for bills. I had to fill out a form (like always) but at least they didn't charge me 1500 yen for doing it. Also, they offered my a UC Mastercard/Visa (if you can figure it out please tell me) but seeing as I have enough trouble managing a small savings account, I politely declined. Next, I crossed the street to get some bleach. Funny, they don't have "bleach" like back home, but they did have something comparable, so I picked that up. Everyone at work really didn't want to be there (it was such a nice day). I still have a week left until the beta release of the Seychelles Online Guide, and I just have a few small tweaks to do. So, things are pretty slow around here, especially with everyone taking vacations left and right. I did, however, take this opportunity to introduce the Japanese to Macaroni and Cheese (they don't have it here and have never heard of it) (i.e. You mix Macaroni with Cheese? and Milk? and Butter!? yuck!) I guess it needs more seafood before it becomes acceptable to the Japanese public. I brought in the box of the Macaroni and Cheese I ate the night before to show them. They are intrigued, so perhaps someday I will make some here at work for lunch using the "facilities" here. Ah, right after work I got to bleach my doogi. It really did get white, though I think I needed to rinse it more to get the smell all out. Oh well, it was good enough to present anyway. Some noticed the "hint" of bleach, but not too many. Also, some people from Shiojiri came and asked our karate group to help out at this Saturday's Shiojiri Festival. I guess it is no problem for me, as long as they tell me what to do. It will be sort of like the Matsumoto bonbon festival, but in Shiojiri.

August 2 - Can anything else go wrong?

After sleeping past the start of the party (when I was woken up by a call from Andy "where was I" type speech), I got up and had a shower. I know Naya and Miwa are going to be upset, as they wanted me to go, but I just couldn't make it. Also, my dress pants are all wrinkled, and I have to have them dry cleaned if I am going to use them again (the shirt is okay, though). Did the rest of my laundry, which brings up another problem...my doogi. I washed a whole load beforehand separately (I did the doogi on its own). However, some &(#* (not me) left 2 blue socks at the bottom of the dryer and got my left pant leg all blue). Augh! My Karate sensei is going to snap my neck if he sees that. So, being so meticulous, I started scrubbing at it by hand with everything I had (but no bleach). I found that a tiny dab of Oxy-5 took the colour away, so I smeared a thin layer over the larger gobs of blue overnight. Note: in the morning the blue was a lot lighter, so I smeared another coat on and hoped for the best at work. Just to be safe I will try to pick up some bleach tomorrow. On the good side, I found I had 2300 yen in 10 yen coins in my drawer, and Ippei lent me his TV/VCR combo for a while to dub some tapes. I guess it is not all that bad, but I hope for the love of God my doogi gets to "passable" status by tomorrow night.

August 1 - Like a big birthday party

Where to begin? Okay, got up and did the usual cleaning thing before meeting everyone downstairs at noon. We headed to Minami-matsumoto just after noon and walked to the "Taito Amusement City". What a party spot! The place is really big, has 16 lanes of bowling, arcade games galore (including the newest ones), drinks, indoor baseball, and big lanes of pachinko machines. We all split up for a few hours and played arcade games for a while (I was on the Daytona USA 2 game most of the time). They sure have a unique idea of fun here sometimes. I saw a fishing arcade game where you have a wall screen and a fishing rod...and you fish (you have to catch so many fish in such a time to go on). There was also a skateboarding simulator where you stand on a skateboard (bars around you to hold on to), and you look at a wall screen projection of an obstacle course which you must do tricks on by pressing down (or jumping) on different parts of the skateboard. After that, we had a quick game of bowling (10 pin). Huyen beat us all (where did she learn how to bowl?), but I did manage to come in second (113). I learned very quickly that I don't have Japanese feet (I took the largest shoe in the building and it was still small). Ah well, after that, it was time to head to the bonbon festival in Matsumoto. Ash missed the train, so we all waited at the station for him. I have never been in a train that crowded before. There was not enough room to even move (my arms went numb). Good thing I tower over most people here, or I wouldn't be able to breathe either. Matsumoto... what happened to the city? The entire city was parading down the streets with their fans and "pom poms" dancing to the music they blare over the speakers on the traffic light posts (did I mention that earlier?) Ah, people danced till dawn on the streets I hear. Too bad around 8 or so we went to dinner at the same place we always go, and actually got a karaoke room this time. They have quite an interesting selection (and quite a bit is in english). Nori, Andy, and Ash got so drunk they had to be taxi'ed home after throwing up all over the sidewalk. I saw all this and thought "mardi gras". Oh well, it was getting late, so I went home to rest up for the karate party tomorrow (if I feel up to it).