I have lived through many a snow storm in my life, but never has the term taken on a meaning at it has here. A couple of days ago (oh, last Sunday in fact, after my car broke down and I had to ride my bike :-)) it started snowing like mad and hasn't given up since. It has literally snowed non-stop for almost five days (ok, ok, there are brief intervals of cessation, but so brief that they are unnoticeable). So, so far, nothing out of the ordinary. But today it did happen. Its about three thirty in the afternoon, snowing buckets. I'm hanging out in the school hallway, chilling with the ni-nen and san-nen seis (elementary 2nd and 3rd graders), when all of a sudden, I see a bright flash. I'm like, what the, couldn't be...right. But sure enough, right after, a huge thunder strike, shook the damn windows in the building. And so began the first snow storm I'be been in. It has been snowing pretty heavily, and yet, regularly there has been thunder and lighting...its very strange. I don't know if it seems strange to anyone else, but I certainly cannot remember such a thing happening ever before...oh, well, just another day in Japan...
Everything is good. I fixed my car (it was a bad battery). Tomorrow, I have my bonenkai, which is the year-end-party (literally translated as "forget the year" party). My JHS teachers and I are going up to Wakura Onsen (which is a very famous hot springs resort just north of here), where we will indulge in extremely delicious Japanese food and drink (hehhehe) and enjoy an evening of comraderie and communal bathing. (Actually, I'm really excited about it because we'll be in an outdoor bath and it'll be snowing, which will also be a new experience for me). Ok, take care all, hope to have a longer posting soon...
Mama, privezi mne pozhaluista ALTOIDS. Iz Sam's Club, 8 ili 12 shtuk, Wintergreen. Ih zdes' net, a ya kak raz segodnya spomnil, chto po nim uzhasno soskuchilsya...spasibo...do skoroi vstrechi, cherez nedeliu...
RDM
18 comments:
AWESOME!
sounds like an amazing storm, i wish i was there, looking on. hey, what kind of car do you have? it's a stick, right? can i drive it when we get in? i wanna try the whole other side of the road bit. and biking in the snow... i thought they only did that in the hood around my job.
and i love the 'forget the year' thing. that is a good attitude - keep going, don't look back. i'm actually a little surprised that such a sentiment came from our japanese friends.
post some pictures of japan in winter time if you get a chance...i bet it's beautiful. also, take your car to a mechanic, it could be the alternator, not the battery.
Have you been in any snowball fights with the kids yet? Is there such a thing as a snowman there? How about snow angels? Or because of the whole Buddhist/Taoist thing, a snow buddhisatva?
amazing comments boys; mjk, my car is a twelve year old junk heap, but its not a stick and it is a nissan, and yeah, you can prolly take it around the block a couple of times if you want. actually, the forget the year thing is a perfect japanese sentiment. you got to understand that these japanese have a seriously traumatizing work ethic, they're absolutely crazy and serious about their jobs, which entail a whole slew of appropriate behaviors, ethical concerns, even the language they speak - overall, it becomes quite a burden, a stress, a gradual buildup that must be let go off - and what better way to let go of all that stress than to just get hammered like there's no tomorrow (which they do) - we're talking "i'm so wasted not only do i not remember this evening, i've forgotten the whole year...";
p, i'm doing a bit of traveling with the folks in a week or so, so when i get back early january, i will have a slew of pictures to pick of (including ones of the Great Wall, which I'm just bursting about); I did take my car to a mechanic and he fixed it, so I trust him in whatever he did...
ginza, no snowball fights yet, but i did find out that the japanese snow man is only two large balls (i found this out when I was drawing one on the board and that third ball drew massive shrieking from the kids) Don't know about snow angels or bodhisattvas, but will find out.
Happy Holidays all
Ha ha. Snow. Biking in the snow. I've got sunshine, beach time, glorious weather ever day... So neener neener!!!
(first time I've ever been able to brag about weather and I'm making the most of it)
awh... thanks
no really, i mean it...
shit darth, that's very touching. i shed a tear...internally.
i had a very strange dream last night. i somehow ended up in japan visiting you. but you weren't there for some reason.
amongst all the absurdity - squirrels, mila, elina's mom, my car breaking down (somehow i had my car there), a lightning storm in the middle of winter, nakata, purple banzai trees, pseudo-enlightment, i realized that none of this amounts (in terms of shock value) to walking down the street in the middle of a foreign land, hearing strange, alien-like muttering all around you, seeing signs that you cannot read, being a part of a culture that you cannot comprehend, and most importantly having no guide to assist you through this journey. kudos, vasya.
when i woke up and mulled over this imaginary experience i realized that it's rather difficult to decipher between visiting you and visiting japan.
maria, lucky you, you can't imagine just how many times i've dreamed about being able to go to the beach, especially in the last couple of days, when the weather here has been absolutlely atrocious...
shlomo, wow, quite a comment there, i was really impressed by it. yes, we are all familiar with dimitry's wall, but i think that your observation that he does things internally (i.e. you need others to be able to express emotions and he doesn't) is not entirely true, i think that he, like anybody, needs others around him to be a conduit for his own emotions, but because he has built an inpenetrable wall between himself (his true, inner, dark self) and the world around him, this cannot take place. he needs it, but doesn't know how to go about getting really (many psychoses potentially mixed up in here); its a long conversation we'll have someday (and perhaps this isn't the most appropriate forum for this discussion in the first place, but the man needs to read and become aware of the fact that there are people out there definitely willing to help him), but for the time being, i'm really excited to see the whole family, i think we'll have a great time;
lovable moose, take note of all this;
p, wow, nice dream you had. that last comment about "deciphering" puzzled me because there are various ways it could be interpreted, including that I myself have become as foreign as Japan, and that's why there's little difference between the two, please enlighten further. but otherwise, keep dreaming as you have and soon enough it'll become reality...take care all...
Shlomo, if you reach around to hug me, at least do me the favor of finishing off the reach around.
jesus, what a forum. roman - this be the kinda thing you were looking for? not bad.
just a quick comment on moosey. the man is alright. why have him conform to our standards of what's ok? it's exactly this kind of pressure that has the potential to seriously break something inside those that are trying to just sincerely exist. let's focus on ourselves.
as far as for visiting roman vs. visiting japan. JAPAN! :) roman, [tear] is always in my heart, but japan needs substantiation.
and slavik, i would pay some serious money to see you go up to the japanese girls and say what you said dimitry should say. i mean it man. i'm talkin' like $5-10. maybe $11. and that's a serious number.
quite a forum indeed; shlomo, let me first say, this is a publicly read forum, read by the likes of my grandmother (albeit in some form of rough translation) but nevertheless, lets do and try to censor our language/references a little wee bit; but overall, a wonderful comment yet again. hey man, i'm all about the hugging, but you know something, ever since i've known mjk (jesus, like almost 16 years or something, mjk, you paying attention) he's had this "bunya, papulik, mamulik" thing going on and its always been coupled with various forms of physical affection, including lip kissing and what not. i'm not passing judgment and am full accepting of said manner of expressing emotions, but its something that's never really been done in my family and don't think it will start...but hell, i'll give you a gorbie smooch anytime, even though i don't necessarily know what that means. and please try to hug ginza with your bare ass at some point and perhaps i began to notice the changes you described, but it will certainly be interesting to see more of it when an even more substantial chunk of time has passed; GOOD LUCK on the Japan bit (i was just as convinced as you of my superhuman ability to act in the ways you described before coming, but alas, its sad but true that the situation isn't much different); peace.
mjk, as much as you know that i agree with you, this isn't a question of conformity but rather of the ability and potential to begin enjoying life at least to some degree..i think you will agree that this is something that should probably be an option in all people's lives...ok, far and out.
i do agree... and hope that we can all get to that point. maybe even together. miss you.
miss you too, my good man. the last couple of days have been strangely empty, in a way that hasn't happened in a long time...very strange, for some reason somewhat depressive...i'm very unmotivated at the moment and unwilling...it'll prolly pass, but no worries, just life, out
My apologies for the uncensorded material. The point is that there are acts that are made push the limits of others and some that are meant to push your own personal limits.
My recent rather "bare" action at the double birthday was my attempt to express my anger in a humorous manner while at the same time entertaining and offending other people. Mostly, due the unruly vote by which it was decided and I (darth shlomo mazovsky of the south) would "steal money from a panhandler" by which i was more offended then the time that i was told that i could not enter a dance club because i was jewish.
The japan comment was meant to intrigue more than anything. However, for the last time i say the same thing in the simplest manner possible: you have to take risks, face the consequences, and reap the rewards. Is it a risk to break tradition - yes, is the payoff high - maybe, is the cost low - maybe. This is not a zero-sum game where if you win others lose, its a win-win / lose-lose situation. Am i willing to take those risks? As long as my life or the life of others is not threatened - yes, as long as no one gets physically hurt - yes, as long as i do not leave permament negative stereotypes of american tourist - ok, i dont care about that. Do what you will, and i will do it my own way, and hopefully we will have a good time.
Have fun in China/India. I'm spending the NYE in NYC.
I was voted most likely to become President or some bull like that. Needless to say, Shlomo, I saw multiple nominations for a certain guest who did not show up. Tell us Roman about the rampant antisemitism present in Japan.
I am not sure I understand your point pillowpuncher88.
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