Oh...toh....toh?

The onsen plan has again fallen through. If I can't go with Kyousuke in Tokyo I shall not experience one this trip. However! Tomorrow I'm going to a temple and a concert after classes. I'll also be going to a beach with some friends all day Friday way out in the country. I have a very busy week's end ahead of me. Let's see how it goes! I met Taka for the last time tonight. We went to a yatai! Yay! Here's a picture of a yatai.

I will miss him, and we had good times together. The other night Ryan and I met Miwa and her sister one last time. We went out to eat and had good times. However, Ryan and I are loud and overly-hyper Americans, so Miwa and her sister sat and marveled out how fast we could spit out our strange stories and jokes in our unique and slightly mauled Japanese. Good times were had by all I do believe. Just to give an example of mine and Ryan's sleep deprivation induced stories... I told a story about how an old lady dropped her hat on a busy road while crossing it. I, being the hero that I am, biked as fast as I could possibly bike and while holding on with one hand I leaned over, grabbed the hat, and barely beat a speeding bus heading straight for the old woman's accessory. This was only party true. Ryan shivered shortly after. I asked him if a opossum ran over his grave. He said he had never heard such a silly thing. The girls didn't understand the saying (of course) so Ryan proceeded to explain in Japanese. HOWEVER! He got his words mixed up. I didn't stop him, because it was awesome, but he mixed up the word for "grave" with the word for "firefly." Yeah, it was funny. Especially the looks on the girls faces. He was telling about how he was covered in fireflies, or he was inside of a firefly, while a strange animal was walking over the firefly that he happened to have died in. It was great. I was laughing and crying at the same time. Ok! That's all! Bye bye! I hope to update again before going to Tokyo!

- Derek

oshyare!

Well, it looks like Derek might be able to go to an onsen (public bath) after all! Woo hoo! I finally found a classmate who likes them and is going to take me to one if all works out. He's going to give his old host father a call, and we might even have some Japanese company for some good ol' language practice! I'm stoked! I've been wanting to go to one forever. Ok, next week is my last week in Fukuoka. I have big plans. Perhaps tomorrow I'm going to the beach with a Japanese friend. I'm going to a yatai (Fukuoka's famous ramen stands) as well. I plan on going to the most famous one... sweet.




Also, I have two concerts that I'm going to. One is a local jpop/dj concert. It should be cute, and rather cheesy, but even more opportunities to study Japanese, right? And, if you guys don't know, I rather like Japanese noise rock. Noise rock is pretty much a bunch of people up on stage screaming nonsense and banging on stuff. It's not always that unorganized, however I think the concert I'm going to is going to be pretty hardcore. We'll see. Check out Boredoms if you want a taste of Japanese noise rock at it's best.





Well, I bought some cool pants yesterday. They were on sell, and I couldn't resist. I'm going to chill here at the cafe I'm at for a while, study, and then walk around Tenjin so people can enjoy looking at my new pants. More updates to come as I carry out my plans and have various unforgettable adventures!

- Derek

otsukaresamadeshita!

Ok, quick update. Not a lot to talk about, but I've been having a great time. I've been hanging out with some Japanese friend a lot lately, and have therefore been able to use a ton of Japanese. Most of them can't speak any English worth mentioning, which is good for me. Great times. It's a little frustrating not being fluent, but I'm getting there. I've been feeling myself improving a lot in the last few weeks, and I feel like I need more time. It's alright though. I'll head back to LSU, try to get my degree, and make my way back here one day. Hopefully I can make some Japanese friends back in Baton Rouge and I'll be able to continue using this super sweet language.
Well, I'm so sad. My bestest pal here in Japan has gone back. Good ol' Don has gone to China for a while, and then he'll be heading back to Canada to work on his schooling. Had some great memories with the dude. Don! You're a great guy! We made some super good memories. I'll have to take a road trip to Canada one of these days and make sure you're behaving yourself, haha.
Well guys, this isn't much of an update, haha. I don't have any good pictures to upload, but I plan on going to a temple and to a beach pretty soon, so I'll load the camera up for you guys. On a side note, I keep seeing more and more of those pink frizzy dress clad girls walking around. They scare me, hardcore. They always have these creepy "I'm staring into your soul and I would eat it if could conjure up my demons in a public place" stare on their face. Wow.

Love and peace! Derek

p.s. Because this post is so lame, I'm adding videos by the Ramens to make you happy. Let's learn about Japanese tradition the fun way!

中 孝介 の赤ちゃんを作りたいんだ。

Well, here I am. I'm sitting in the internet cafe listening to Jack Johnson, trying to drown out the sound of the Shaggy CD that they play every day, over and over here. I liked Shaggy, but I don't anymore. Nope. Today was supposed to be onsen day, but it didn't work out. An onsen, if you don't know, is kind of like a public bath. It's supposed to be one of the coolest things ever, and I'm dying to go to one. My friend Sachi and her friend were going to take me and Don to one near here, but Don has run off to Tokyo for the weekend. An onsen would still be fun, but if I'm going to lounge around in a public bath for a few hours I'd like to have someone to talk to. I asked my friend Ryan to go with me instead, but he says that he's scared of being in the company of so many naked Japanese men. Haha, I can't blame him. But hey, it's a culture learning experience! Just go for it!
The other day Ryan and I went to Miwa's apartment for a hand-rolled sushi party. It was super good. We hung out all night with Miwa, her sister, and two of her friends. None of them could speak any English, so it was great practice for Ryan and I. Miwa's boss is going to be taking a trip during the first week of August, so she asked me to come to the clothing shop that she manages and hang out after school. Good times!
Man, fashion here is crazy. Most younger people are very hip when it comes to fashion. I'm quite jealous of the widespread fashion sense that these people have. There's a style right now with guys where they get super dark tans, have HUGE (usually) blond hair, and they wear super tight clothes. I have no idea what they do. Every time that I see them they're just standing on the side of the road or on sidewalks just staring at people. Another thing with younger girls, usually high school age, is maid style. I guess you'd call it that. For instance, a girl just walked by outside the cafe wearing an all pink dress with white lace, super tall white stocking things, pink high heels, a pink and white frilly umbrella, and curly hair with a pink little hat. Pretty crazy.



The thing right now that I see most often is layers. Guys will wear about three or four different shirts, and sometimes two different pairs of pants at the same time with one riding low with the other sticking way out. The array of hats worn is also quite amazing. However the boring American t-shirts that they sell are usually some of the most expensive. Miwa goes to America, buys shirts from thrift stores, brings them back here and sells each for 30-80 bucks. Amazing, huh These people are obsessed with America. American clothes can be seen everywhere. You have to go to a traditional Japanese restaurant to hear any Japanese music. The clubs here also play only American music.

Well, I have to do some school stuff so I had better wrap this up. I uploaded some new pictures and I have a link to the left. I'll start putting all of my new pictures into that album so that it's easier to find the new pictures that I upload. I also want to say that I really enjoy reading everyone's comments! To those who comment, thank you! Sorry I haven't written responses, haha. I'll try to write a response to your comments from time to time from now on. I'm so lazy. Ok! Ja, mata!

- Derek

p.s. Oh, I've fallen in love with this guy's voice. His name is 中 孝介 (Atari Kosuke). Here's a link to a music video for his most popular song right now 花 (hana). Enjoy!



One more, haha.