Following schoolgirls in the rain

Well I know why they call it the rainy season here in Japan.  Having to ride my bike 10 minutes is starting to become a problem.  But thats not a story, this is.

I was supposed to go see a Hanshin Tigers baseball game, which I have been wanting to see for more than a year now, when I got the weather report.  According to the local weatherman it was supposed to rain.  I arrived at work and recieved the bad news that we couldn’t go to the game.  I was so heart broken.  Thankfully we got tickets to go another time(It’s supposed to rain that day too).  So I am finished with work and going home and the weather looks fine to me and I’m mad.  Then, an hour later, I arrive at my home station and the sky looks black and its lightining.  I’m happy again.  I pick up my bike and as soon as I start to leave it rains.  I’m angry again.

When it rains,  IT RAINS.  I was soaked after the first block and I have to go another 7.  I can’t see at this point because my glasses are covered in rain.  And in case your wondering NO there are not any places to stop and wait it out on my way home.  So I’m starting to get worried with the downpour and the lightining.  When sudenly two schoolgirls come peddling down the street screaming like a couple of asian school girls(and yes that is a correct metaphor, because nothing on earth screams louder than a couple of asian schoolgirls).  So I figure “Hey it looks like they are headed the same way” so I decide to follow them.  I am naming my next book “When in doubt, follow the schoolgirls”.  Thanks to them I made it back safely and we even got to talk briefly.  Though the conversation was mostly them giggling.

I made it home completly drenched to the bone.  My host family takes a look at me and whisk me to the bathroom before I drip all over the tatami mats(which are expensive and ruin easily).  I get out of the shower and guess what my family is watching.  THE HANSHIN TIGERS GAME.  They said that it only rained for about 20 minutes before stopping.  I looked outside and sure enough the sky was clear.

And that is why the rainy season sucks.

I want to watch Bambi so bad right now

I know its been a while but I have been swamped with work.   THey really don:t want me bored so they are loading on the work.  The other day I was up at 5 oclock to make it to work on time and I didnt make it back untill 11.  Today is saturday and I am in Nara.  I am to help out on the live studio news program.  Probably just helping set up chairs or something but I did get to go check out the temples in Nara so that is a plus.  But get this, we went to nara park where they have live deer running around.  Remember how I talked about the……..

sorry about that but I had to go work and now it is like two hours later.  I got pulled away and boy have I been busy.  I had to go step up the stage.  And I dont mean chairs I mean the actual set that they will be using.  Then we grabed some really good lunch of ramen and chinese dumplings.  After I meet the cast and they were all really friendly.  The weather lady is kinda crazy but she speaks great english.  The main news caster is an american.  His wife went to high school in Brentwood.  When I was introduced to him he started to speak english with me and shocked the hell out of his makeup department.  Aparently in the 38 years he has worked there he hasnt spoken english at all.  So I got to hang out with the main news team.   Anyway back to what I was saying before…

remember when I saw those wild monkies, well this was like 10 times cooler.  It was like a giant petting zoo.  The deer where all over the town.  People would play soccer in between a group of deer.  They were like big dogs really.  You could pet them and you could feed them.  That was the coolest part because there is a special way to do it.  You bought a deer cracker and then the suckers just flock to you.  But you cant just toss it at them.  When the walk up to you you hold the cracker over your head, say something in japanese that I think translates into `respect for your god` and then you are supposed to bow to the deer.  Here is the kicker  THE DEER BOW BACK.  It is so cool.  I wouldnt believe it unless I did it and caught it on tape.  The deer bow.  How cool is that.  It is so funny to see.  Its not even like a kinda thing with some of them.  All the deer bow if you do this.  They told me that the deer god from the mountain taught them to do this so that is why you are supposed to show respect to the deer god when you feed them.  Anyway,  after walking around and seeing a butt load of temples with deer hoping around them we went to see the daibutsu.  That is the giant buddha statue that they have in Nara.  It is the biggest in Japan.  Then I had a melon soda float at the top of a temple on the top of a hill that overlooked everything. 

That has been my day so far and it is not yet finished.  I Will let you know how it goes tommorrow as well as tell you about what happened when me and my old roommate meet up the other day.

later

No WAY is my luck that bad.

So get this today we were working on a promotional video for Kandai which we have been working on all week.  Oh yeah before I forget funny story,  on my first day to work I ran into one of my old japanese friends on the platform.  And I have run into more people since.  It’s a weird feeling when you run into someone you know in a foreign country.  Anyway, so we are working and editing and waiting for some producer to have a look see at what we have done(by we I mean mostly them).  So we wait a couple hours and in walks mister important.  There is the general introducitons and then they turn to give my introduction.  The producer looks shocked like everyone does when they learn the company has a foreign intern.  Only this time it’s different.  He turns back to the director and head editor and starts talking with them real fast.  I am only able to pick up a few words but they are very imporant:kansai university, dorm, NHK, and most important AEROBICS.  Yes this was the same producer from the aerobics show I did in my dorm so long ago.  IT WAS THE SAME GUY AND HE REMEMBERED ME.  I was no longer an intern I was the aerobics guy.  And worst of all he totally remembered the ridiculous head bands that we all wore.  Let that be a leason to everyone everywhere: If you make an ass out of your self in a foreign country, don’t return to the same country.  THEY WILL REMEBER YOU.

And here I thought it was going to be tough….

So.  I have spent my first week on the job and here is what I have to say………..DAMN.  I am pulling in some serious hours here.  I have to get up at 7 every day so I can ride a bike for 10 minutes(and there is no weirder feeling than riding a bike in a business suit through rush hour in Japan).  It has only rained once and that once was a nightmare.  It’s a long ride in the downpour.  Then its a 37 minute ride in a train cramed with people.  Then it is a 15 minute walk through an underground maze.  I got lost in it more than once so far but they have really good bakerys in it.  So, my first day pretty much can be summed up with a simple sentence.  I met everyone and then went home.  The rest of the week hasn’t been so easy.  The other day I was asked to show up to work early and then after work I was asked  to acompany one of the employee’s to a soccar game where I got a press pass, made my way to the field, help interview players, and got free food in the green room.  Problem was I got home at 1130 and my host family had freaked out by then.  There is more to that story but it hasn’t played out yet.  I have got to work with experienced camera men in the field, got to shoot parts of my own movie project which I must turn into the company at the end of my internship, got to go to a soccar game like I mentioned, and have pretty much worked with profesionals every step of the way.  My first real day working I had to watch an editing sesion with some clients and then we went to the audio studio to work on radio commercials.  The second day was the long soccar game day.  But I got to see a cool game, eat japanese hot dogs, and pretty much enjoy all the benefits of the job(which there is alot).  Then the next day I was shown how to do linear editing in a studio.  Saturday I get to go to another soccar game and help tape it.  The saturday after I am going to nara to the live news broadcast and then to feed the wild deer there.  I got free tickects to the hanshin tigers baseball game.  I got alot going on and it is still my first week.  There is so much that happened I can’t even begin to tell it all.  You will just have to ask me about it when I get back.  Thats it for now.

Later

Japan, Old School

So here is the big report on everything I have done up until now. So I made it to Osaka in one piece and all my lugage and I was lucky enough to have one of my old friends meet me at the airport. If he hadn’t been there I probably would have slept on the curb. After we found my hotel we went back to my old japanese university to meet up with some familiar faces. I show up at the favorite hang out place for all foreign exchange students, The Transcope Cafe. When I studied in Japan I went to the Transcope at least once a day. I showed up just in time for their closing. Their final closing. The Transcope had gone out of business during my time away and they were closing it the night I arrived in Japan. So I said hello andgoodbye to all my old friends who had worked there. On my way back home from the painful hello, Japan decided to give me it’s traditional welcome gift for foreigns who have a long way to walk and no umbrella, it rained on me. After waking up in a hotel room that was smaller than my bathroom at home(and I had to share it with another guy), I left the hotel without paying(trust me, I got into serious trouble about this later). After dragging all my luggage around Osaka in search of a cell phone we made our long trip to kyoto and when I say long I mean LOOOOOONG. It’s about an hour everyday from my house to my job. Thats not cool. Anyway my host family has a house in which the 5 of them live. Parents, two kids and a grandfater. The kides are 19 and 16 and the older goes to school at Kansai University. The first night there was alot of awkward silences and even more misunderstandings. I found out that the family runs a phamarcy that is literally a hop, skip, and a jump away. Counting from their front door, it is about 6 steps to the back door of their shop. The family is old school japanese, with the tatami mats, the pull out futons, and all the weird japanese customs and traditions. It’s the full on experience for me this time.  The whole house looks so classical but also very old.  It reminds me of my great grandmothers house in a good way.  I wish I could tell all the small things that have been simply amazing but sadly I am too exahusted from work today to go into detail. So I will try for later. On my day off we went to the local park and played catch. Of course if anyone knows me they know that anytime I play baseball I have to get hit in the head and this time was no different. Thank goodness the ball was soft. I can’t tell you how many brain cells I have lost playing baseball. I used to be smart when I was young. After that the parents cooked tempura for us. It was amazing. The mother is a great cook. After dinner the grandfather sat down and talked with me about his time in America. He showed me his maps from over fourty years ago. It was an great time. Well that is all for now. I will try to Update tommorrow.

later

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