Look for special editions of Japan Study Abroad Podcast in the future about drinking and dating. I’ll try to put those together for the next few weeks in addition to the normal show. Have a safe 4th of July.
The show sounds a little different this week because Garageband decided to have a series of epic failures on export. I had to do a funky workaround. It’s nothing that will stop production, but I need to figure out how to get the show sounding right again. I have a few ideas. No worries.
One of the funny things I discovered after recording today was that Speed Racer is one of those 6-month-delayed movies in Japan. That’s ridiculous considering, you know, the fact that Japan invented Speed Racer.
Also, I think that from this point forward that the release schedule for this podcast will be more like Friday morning(EST) rather than Thursday night or Thursday evening. Recording after my early classes on Friday worked well this week, and it frees up my Thursdays a little bit. It was tough to fit it in with all the other things that got planned for that day, but doing it like I did today feels like a fitting end to my week.
For those of you in the United States used to getting this podcast on Thursday morning, this week’s should go up on Thursday night. This has to do with the time differences and a holiday from school tomorrow. I just wanted to post this to let you all know that I haven’t forgotten about you. Thanks for the questions, kind words, and comments.
I’ve decided to take this week off from the podcast to celebrate my birthday. I’ve also been asked to write an article for the student paper here, and so that has taken up a little bit of my time. The show will return on-time next week. I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you.
I managed to get myself over to Sumikawa Park (澄川公園) today for a few hours to see the sights and take in the festivities. Our weather here took a turn for the worse, unfortunately, the day after I recorded the podcast this week. I think I may have jinxed it. My apologies to anyone affected negatively by the weather this weekend in Sapporo.
I kid, I kid. The weather today really wasn’t that bad. It was a tad gloomy, a bit drizzly, and a scoche crisp. It was pretty ideal conditions for a long walk to place I had never been with a map I didn’t really know how to use.
I did get lost once, but I found my bearings again. Sapporo has liberally-placed bus stops, and so I could kind of place myself on the map in my head by seeing which bus stop I was nearing. Once I got close enough, I used what I like to call the ice cream truck method. I could hear the Yosakoi music wafting in the air up the hills and down the streets of Sumikawa. It didn’t take me long to find from that point.
The grounds at Sumikawa Kouen were not spectacularly crowded, but there were enough people to make it interesting. The festivities were being carried out in a parade-like fashion. The park used to be some kind of military base. So there’s a lot of cool things to see there like the mothballed mass transit cars across the street from the entrance. As well, inside the park, there’s some real paved road with these gigantic grass clearings on either side.
The Yosakoi groups would line up on one end then go one after another. There was just enough length to the stretch of roadway that two Yosakoi teams could perform at the same time. Each team performed twice, once for the people at the far end of the park and then once for the people at the closer end.
The spectators were watching from the grass clearing, and there were also little booths to grab food from. It was a lot like how a small event might be at the county fairgrounds in the United States. Except, I believe the food here was better. They had yakitori, yakisoba, hot dog, and beer vendors there to serve everyone. Sure, I’m used to a gyro and a lemon shake-up when I go to the fair, but it was pretty neat to have really decent noodles and chicken with a cheap Sapporo beer while watching the parade of dancers. The vendors, mostly nice old ladies, got a kick out of the foreigner who was able to speak Japanese.
I took a boatload of pictures for you guys, and so please take a look at the ever-expanding Photos section. I added over 50 new ones today, and there should be more going up in the next few days.
As a special bonus, I even took video of some of the dance troupes. It’s just video from my digital camera, but I’m pleasantly surprised with the way it turned out. If there is interest, I may do more videos. I love photography, but sometimes you need movement and sound to really get the flavor of something.
Listener Question, from Allison, “How much Japanese is necessary for daily life.”
Japanese Chit-Chat
Magical Experiences sans Lawyers
A special note, this show is not being released under Creative Commons because copyrighted music was used. I did not ask for permission, though I do believe this can qualify as fair use. I used less than 30 seconds of the music, and I derived no monetary benefit from it. I would encourage everyone to go on iTunes and get “Umekichi - Soran Bushi” because it is good music. It was always my intention to educate, never to steal.
Sorry for the delay this week. In this week’s show: hangovers, tests, socializing, and soccer clubs. Not covered in the show, but completely true as far as I know, Japanese universities have drinking clubs.
If you’ve seen the pictures of my room here in Japan, you know that my room is tiny. Back in the states, I was very used to my luxuriously large desk where I could sprawl all the everyday items I would need. My new slimline desk, more of a computer cart really, just doesn’t have this kind of space to give. Desperate times call for crafty solutions.
Items Required:
Slim Desk - ¥4,000
Heavy-duty Double-sided Tape(from a hardware store) - ¥250
Scissors(from 百円ショープ) - ¥105
Computer junk(external hard drives, USB hubs, wireless receivers)
Instructions:
Velcro would work too, but that was way more expensive at the hardware store than double-sided tape. As a student, you have to be mindful of your budget, and so double stick tape will probably do the best job for the least amount of money.
Cut yourself off a few strips of the double-sided tape using the 百円ショープ scissors. Be liberal about it. This stuff sticks well, but not that well. It can gum up, and start to kind of ooze a little bit. Use more than you need. The tape is cheap. You can always get more.
Stick the tape to the appropriate side of whichever item you’d like to mount. Take that item, and stick it to the underside of your desk. Pictured above, I have mounted my USB hub to the underside of the top portion of my desk. This gets the clutter of the hub off the desk surface, and creates a less rats-nest-like routing path for all the cables.
I have also mounted my external hard drive in this manner on the opposite side. The trick for heavier items like that is to stick them not only to the underside of the desk, but also to an overhanging edge. My hard drive is mounted to the underside of the top piece of my desk, and also braced against the metal support that holds that piece up. It hasn’t fallen yet.
Because of this method, I have been able to clutter my desk up just the way I was used to doing back home. I have more room to spread all my bills, pens, change, paperwork, and other junk. However, I also have more room for my mouse or for doing my homework.
On this week’s Japan Study Abroad Podcast, 留学生 have アルバイト, Sapporo is a windy city, the Japanese have Gaijin Fever, and, apparently, they have Allen wrenches in Japan. That is, despite the conspicuous lack of guys named Allen.
