After my second day of classes, I'm pretty well settled in, but I still haven't been here long enough to stop noticing the stares, glares, and reactions to me. I got the whole gamut this time: from a little kid running away in terror, to odd (yet extremely creepy) smiles and waves from schoolgirls on another train, to looks of "WTF are you doing here" from salarymen and senior citizens, to people giving puzzled, inquisitive stares that could only be stopped by giving the offending gaper(s) a dose of the patented Gaijin Optic Blast (which consists of simply staring back at them to let them know you know you're being gawked at and that you don't approve). It will never stop being humbling to be "the minority". It has forever made me more conscious of the subtle nuances people use when interacting with others of different races or backgrounds even in America. I've met some new people - again from all over the world - and I'm beginning to fill my schedule with various things to do. Since I'm also doing gaming coverage while here, I have a new set of challenges to cope with as well, which I'm more than ready to tackle head-on, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit nervous about making a good impression and being professional yet not dull when meeting with people related to work.
Two of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo - Curry Kitchen and the family-owned ramen restaurant located outside of Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku - are now closed. If there is an upside, the franchise replacing Curry Kitchen serves miso soup with bacon in it. BACON. That almost makes up for the loss...almost.
In Okazaki, classwork is actually a lot less demanding this time around because SILAC Intermediate is far more conversation-centric and less drill-centric. They'll still correct every mistake you make - which is great as far as I'm concerned - but they don't grade you on it, which encourages people to try expanding their grammar and vocabulary by trying out new structures and ways of communicating an idea. This was never the case in the previous level, because they would crucify anyone who tried to do so during the speaking tests which were such a large portion of each student's evaluation. It's kind of strange, actually. Tomorrow I start my AIJP extra classes that are included as part of SILAC intermediate studies, and I anticipate those are going to be a lot more demanding, though I feel more than ready to handle anything they throw at me this time. The fact I've been able to work on things on my own back at home for a bit, and self-study for a bit, has made me a much stronger student. We're doing presentations on Wednesday dealing with "Festivals". I can choose any festival from either Japan or my home country, and I'm pretty much at a loss to what I'm going to do. I'm struggling to decide between Taste of Chicago and the Minnesota State Fair. Both seem to provide some opportunities to include some laughs. Anyone have suggestions?
This weekend I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go see Hamlet at the Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya last weekend. The show was put on by a community theatre of foreigners living in Japan, and had wonderful production values. The show was done entirely in English but had (extremely simplified) Japanese subtitles projected on a screen above the stage. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the subtitles give a better indication of what's going on than Shakespeare's heavy language, but that would be blasphemy so I will abstain. After the show I couldn't help but think that I would love to work with these guys if I was going to be here for a longer period of time, but it would be pointless to do so at the moment because I have enough on my plate as it is between class, site coverage, and preparation for my return to the States.
I went back to Nagoya after class today with a different goal in mind - scoping out the arcade where the players I'm covering are hosting a tournament later this week. It's a little hole-in-the-wall place but it's packed with great players. All the machines are also hooked up to the DRM system that allows users to choose a title from 20-plus different games on several different cabinets throughout the arcade. This works sort of like a Neo Geo MVS, but doesn't require separate cartridges for each title in the system. Seeing the telltale sign of a Windows program (including the title window for a brief second) after selecting Persona 4 Arena and watching the boot-up sequence made me bristle a bit. I can't believe these arcade games are really nothing more than expensive PC titles. They don't even hide it anymore. What I wouldn't give to have one of those machines for one of my cabinets at home. No such luck though, those are subscription boxes and even if I were to purchase one for way-too-much-yen, they require arcade operators to pay a monthly fee, and they "phone home". Arcades are moving toward this model, which is unfortunate as it makes importing of machines for the few arcades left in America next to impossible.
Finally, I'm already feeling the side effects of living here from a health perspective. The pounds are already melting away, and I feel stronger and more energetic than I have in over a year, easily. It's strange, even eating the "bad stuff" here (such as katsu, korokke, tempura, kara-age, and other fried goodies) still seems to be better than eating anything back in the States. The food here (again, even the stuff that's "bad for you") doesn't make me tired or ill, it's as simple as that. If I were super-rich and never had to work again, I'd probably live here a couple months out of each year just for health reasons; I'd probably live 5-6 years longer if I did. Some of it probably has to do with all the walking I need to do in order to get from place to place as well, but still. It's amazing how quickly the transformation takes place.
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