The End

The end of the summer semester is almost here. Well technically I guess it is here because all that's left is finals. I learned a great deal this semester, mostly that I will never again take four courses over the summer semester. Also, I learned that having a different day off every week is a really stupid idea and that whoever came up with it should be flogged accordingly.

I had hoped to get more accomplished this semester but unfortunately I overloaded myself with work. I tried to pack in way too much for the semester and as a result I think that some of my grades may have suffered. Looking back though, I did get a lot done. I only wish I had been able to have been a part of the Daily Lives Project crew like I had originally envisioned being. Hopefully I can still partake in the editing next semester.

I was hoping as well to really improve my Japanese this semester as well but that didn't really happen. Sure, I improved a bit but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I guess next semester will work out better. I feel like the next xourse will be much more challenging and that it will force me to improve.

International Project

For my international project I was supposed to photograph and write about people communicating on two forms of transportation. I know what you're thinking, "In Japan?". Yeah, that's what I thought. Never mind I only travel using the train, I hardly ever see people communicating with eachother. So, I decided to just go with it. I would just describe the lack thereof communication and I would sacrifice some cash on a taxi for my second mode of transportation. I hate buses and I couldn't bring myself to use on, don't ask, that's another story entirely.

I spent a night out on the town in Ikebukuro with some friends. I documented my traveling by plotting my course via a GPS device I was lent by the school. I took the Mita Line from my station at Shimurasanchome to Sugamo station. Then I proceeded to Ikebukuro via the Yamanote. When I got to Ikebukuro I figured it would be worthwhile to keep GPSing my location as I went about my night; once on my way to a bar, at a bar, on my way to karaoke, at karaoke, and then waiting for a cab. I plotted a few spots in the cab on my way home and tooke some pictures of the empty streets. Yeah, I stayed out all night. I got dropped off at the McDonalds by my house, plotted that place, then took a bunch of pictures of a pigeon that will probably not make it into the project. He was just getting so close to me and I was drunk and excited.

So now I just have to finish putting this thing together. I've been working on it for a while now but I have yet to complete it. I figue it will be done this weekend. Maybe even Friday. So yeah, It should be up on here sometime soon I hope. I'll probably just make a seperate blog for it. Be on the look out ya'all!

Bathes. Roland. (?)

So I'm not really sure who wrote this last handout we recieved ( I asume his name has something to do with this blog's title) but I think most of it is a pretty dry text. It is beyond me how someone can make Japan boring, but hey, this person suceeded in doing so. But anyways, It got me thinking about some things.

Zen. The author barely mentions Zen asthetics and how they can be seen in a multitude of areas in Japan. In his piece on the presentation of food and it's rawness, he never mentions that both these factors contribute to the Zen asthetics of food in Japan. He never mentions it in his piece about packaging. Nor when he describes the simplicity of the home. Instead he justs goes on about I don't even know what.

Okay, I'm kind of getting off track here.

I do like how he describes coomunication in Japan. I think there is definitely a misconception that it is near impossible to communicate without knowing a language. People forget that there are a multitude of ways to communicate besides verbally expressing oneself. Of course it helps, and of course it gets frustrating, but the degree of ones language ability does not hamper ones experience of a foriegn country. Japan seems easier than most countries to describe what you need using body language, art, or whatever means are available. I think this has something to do with it being a high context society as apposed to most Western countries being low in context.

Project done

So the final projects went up the other day. They are on display at an art house in Harajuku. I can't even begin to describe how many problems I had with mine at the last minute!

Originally I had intended to make a project that isolated all the train station songs along the Yamanote. From there I wanted to put the sounds on a Google map along with the course that the Yamanote went along. You'd be able to simply click on a station, find out what it is, and then hear the song. Well, recording the songs became quite troublesome when I found that many times they are drowned out by the noise or simply not being played. So instead I opted to make the project display what a typical stop at each station sounded like it. If the song was there, great. If not, it still had a unique enough ambiance. Then I started working with iDVD in another class. I found that the program would work well with my own project so I scrapped the Google map in favor of creating a DVD that was interactive. I compiled all the sounds and the best photos I took of each stop and created said DVD. I finally finished up last Thusday night, but when I went to burn the disc, error. Apparently I screwed up somewhere. I spent awhile trying to figure it out but I didn't really get anywhere so instead I just put it on a flash memory card. That worked out well in the end.

My only dissapointment was that I failed to make an artist statement for the class DVD and my project was the only one left off of the DVD. Instead mine is on a seperate computer with headphones. Everybody else's plays in a loop that is projected on a wall. I like that mine is unique but I also wish that I could have had something that fit along with the rest of the classes projects because all their's look great together.

Random thoughts, statements, and accusations about this land they call Japan.

-Why do we call it Japan when Japanese call it Nippon or Nihon? It's like Germany and Deutschland. How many other names of countries do we butcher?

-What's with the random lotto stalls. I hardly see anybody ever buying a ticket but these things are all over the place! Can I buy one? And how would I know if I won?

- Have you ever seen so many people reading comic books (Manga... I know... get over it) in one place? at four in the morning? What the hell do these people do?

-I want a beer without the izakya atmosphere. I want a normal, shady, run'o the mill bar!

-A good majority of Japanese avoid me on the train... and just about anywhere else.

-Octopus. What's the big deal? It doesn't even have a flavor. You can't tell me they like it for the texture... it feels like rubber!

-Everyone keeps talking about rainy season. What the hell? It's been raining at the very least once a couple weeks. If that's not rainy season then tell me what is.

-I'm over the foriegners that try to blend in so much so that they act like snobs. Those people are lame.

-I don't care what Matt says. The phones here are way more advanced than the ones back in the States!

-Must every employee say "Irashaimase!" upon entering a store? I think that one is enough. Although I can't help but be ammused by the one guy that says it about three minutes after everyone else.

-Beer. Can I have a little more variety please?

-I've been wondering... why is it that Japan is the only other country where theme parks thrive? Hmmmm... research paper?

-Damn this is a hard language to learn.

That is all for now.

Ashes and Snow

I'm finding it a bit difficult to pin down my exact feelings on the"Ashes and Snow" exhibit by Gregory Colbert. I think it may be best to share with you the artist's statement before getting into my own feelings.

"In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals. The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present."

Sounds a little pretentious. That pretty much sums up my feelings on the exhibit.

Sure, most of the photography was extrememly beautiful as was much of the video, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that it was put on display in uch a manner as to suggest that this was the best art created, ever. I think that the artist was attempting to move his audience to appreciate human relationship and interaction with nature and animals, however he failed in my opinion. I feel that I would have been much more impressed had the pictures not been staged. I felt that the posing of the animals in relation to the human subjects ruined the artists goal from his artist statement. It felt staged and therefore fake.

I also felt that there was a bit too much of an underlying amount of sexuality between the human and animal subjects which frankly, I didn't really understand. Perhaps this was supposed to represent the "shared language" and "harmony" that we humans once shared with nature. I'm not really sure why this was.

All in all it seemed a bit over dramatic of an exhibit. DOn't get me wrong, I did like much of what I saw and the entire collection was put together quite well, with the matching music and ambiance. I guess that maybe what I'm getting at is that it seemed to be commercialized art. Too much money was behind it and for that the artist has lost much of his integrity. I don't find it to be art anymore when you step out of the exhibit to be presented with a shop full of overpriced prints, posters, bookmarks, phone danglers, and postcards. I mean, come on, 7,000 yen for a poster? Give me a break.

Hand in the bag...

I can't say that what you would find in my bag would be anything out of the ordinary. There isn't really anything of significant emotional or physical value in its contents. It mostly serves the purpose of a book bag.

I carry the needed books for the days classes, unless of course the text isn't required for use in the classroom. It always has my folder. It contains material for all of my classes so I try to keep it as clean as possible, going through it every so often to ensure that there is no unneccesary clutter. There are also the stray notebooks that work well for note taking both in and out of class. A pen bag keeps all my writing utensils organized and at the ready. I usually have a personal book in it as well. One for reading on the train. Of course this constantly changes but nevertheless, I nearly always have a good personal read for the commute.

My iPod is a mainstay. Sometimes I just can't make up my mind if I want to listen to music and play solitaire on the train or read a book. I've found it's good to have both. Options work nice.

My phone always sits nicely in a convenient little pouch built for the purpose. The only problem is that I can never tell when it rings since it is on a constant vibrate mode. I'd change the settings, but I think the last thing I need is my phone going off on the train while I stand around oblivious, listening to music that is probably too loud for me and everyone else on board.

I have a day planner that seems to make it into and out of my bag without warning. Sometimes it's there, other days it's not. It was part of my plan to be more on top of things. Because you know, having a day planner can make a person responsible. I have written in it twice I think. Once on the first day of Spring semester, and once on the first day of Summer semester after clearing out all the old and wasted pages of the months gone by. Another item that goes on in a constant state of un-use is my flash cards for Japanese. I swear, I don't think I'm ever going to learn this language properly.

Trash is usually in my bag. Right now I have a few tissues from I can't even remember when. A buisness card from a friend of a friend can be found in the same pocket. There's also a smashed up cigarette pack. There's a whole one too. I know, they're bad for me. But hell, they look almost as cool on me as a beer and I can't really go walking around school with one of those.

I guess I do have one personal piece in my bag. Well, actually it's pinned to it, and it's a pin. It's a pin I got from NHK the first week I came to Japan. I'm pretty sure that was the same day I bought the bag. It's a pin of Domokun, the child show star. I guess it is a sort of good luck pin in a way. I have never taken it off my bag since I first put it on. It reminds me of where I was when I came here and where I am now.