A ru-ru is a ru-ru is a ru-ru.

My pal from Jamaica, (or was that South Africa?) well, nonetheless he mentioned aboot the idea of repetition and job duty ingrained in Japanese culture. So I did some thinking and thought to add to his perplexion at being given 8 business cards by the same guy. Personally I would draw some less than pleasant comments and hand them back to him on the next visit...

A Study:

It must be Japanese are born to waste. being on an island, one would hope that conservational impulses would be ingrained but no no no that is not the case. Riddle me this batman, if Japan runs out of paper it can get more from Canada, Russsia or some other non-cemented place or so goes the urban legend found on www.bigdaikon.com
(among others, most of which are circulated by us non-Japanese sans perspective, but anyway...)

Ever bought a pack of gum? Well you get a bag. Want a bottle of tea? Here's a completely unrecyclable bag for ya! It is a social norm, all purchases must be bagged. Same goes for receipts. It is the law. Sometimes I feel as though I was back in Bushville and just bought some Periodicals from a special bookstore and a fifth of Jack Daniels from the corner store.

But, legit or otherwise Japan bags its consumer goods like no other place I've been. 100% recyclable (Plastic bags are usually High Density Polyethalyne or HPDE #2 or #4) but here in the archipeligo it is 100% burnable. Its a rule and that is the sticking point. They clerks get so nervous when I refuse a bag, as if it some sort of test of their abilities, as if someone will fire them for not forcing a bag upon me. To them I say, learn something from our unusual and suspicious non-Japanese ways.

Japan has ciggy shops and vending machines across Japan. Tobbacco is cheaper and more readily available here than anywhere (from a limited number of places I've been). The age to smoke is 20 years old, the same threshold for alcohol and becomming a bonified adult.
But lately a freind witnessed a student being busted for smoking by two teachers, themselves smokey joes. So how can two teachers who are chimneys themselves punish a kid for following their bad example? Well the rule says not to smoke, not because it is dangerous and an public scourage that kills millions annually, but that it is the rule. A rule is not open to discussion in Japan, rules are to be obeyed while keeping mum. And the cycle of wasted chances for social reform, for longer lives and for teachers to set good examples, wasted. All because of an inability to summon up the courage to speak up for what is logical and better for everyone.

I really need a smoke. Luckily, there is a cigarette vending machine across the street from school! Location, location, location. And the bonus is they are only about $1.25 a pack.

Formosan Phun

I noticed lot of bits about the place are different than other cities and nations here in NEA. And different is one reason I decided to try on Taiwan to see how it fit as a place to spend a week.

Restaurants close up early so if you want dinner at 9 p.m. in Taipei, the island's sprawling capital, you would be SOL, as Taiwanese eat and close shop prior to 8p.m on average. In the morning they fancy the fried egg as a main in their diet. Stinky tofu is the afternoon snack of choice. 7-11 has a big presence on the island and one big seller is the egg, but pickled and blackened due to its cooking process.

Transit was refreshingly straightforward in Taiepei and very refreshingly cheaper than Japan, but on that note what place isn't? The stone floor of CKS International Airport was not camera friendly, as it turns out but no surprises there.

Spotted some giggle-inducing Japanese tourists, always fun to watch their antics as they group themselves around non-Japan. Details of three cases follow:

1. Old I am going to rupture my bladder man: Regardless of nationality, the old man having to find a toilet is amusing. When my time comes hopefully I will be able to laugh, too. The frantic dancing, pointing, red face and pointing to his bladder region was the best part.

2. The elevator crew. Imagine an elevator. Okay, now add 12 college kids with no idea of timing, others or a plan. Add a choice of 11 floor buttons on the controls. Insert dissarray and Nayr standing in the corner wanting them the bubonic plauge to befall them all (swiftly). It was something to see. More than half go clonked by the elevator doors at several possible exits.

3. They don't speak Japanese in Taiwan? Man and Woman:
At a hotel in Taipei I was checking in and this middle aged couple started firing away in rapid Japanese and the Chinese hotel clerk asked them in Japanese "Do you speak some English, because I cannot follow your Japanese..." To which the couple replied: "Ehhhh???? Gaigokugo wakanai, muzukashi ne... which translates to: Foregin languages are too difficult and I don't understand them. Note the genuine aura they couple sent off, that the could not be bothered to even try. I laughed but I felt sympathy for the clerk, who made a genuine effort to be polite and communicate.

TAIWAN

Today I was in a bar this restaurantuer recommended.

So as I drink this girl asks if I wanted to order a heniken.

Then Anne murray was playing over the pa. SO here is the theme to my evening.

With a combination of skunky beer and Anne Murray, you just can't lose...

Weary traveler needs sleepytime

Here's a surprise for your Monday:

Old
Dirty
Bastard

of Wu-Tang Clan fame has died at the tender age of 35.
With a name like Old Dirty Bastard, it is pretty surprising he didn't join the ranks of the Ghetto Centurians.
I will admit, however I have listened to Wu-Tang while on road trips, but I never succumbed to their crossover marketed Wu-Wear clothing line. Dems tuff"#$$%&''" pants, yo!

The world is such a cool place. There is so much to do on our course to eventually playing an integral role in the nitrogen cycle. I have not really traveled a lot but I like one aspect of travel in that you get a stamp in the ole passport each place you go, the notable exceptions being the US (well for us Americans) and apparently, the EU.

Cambodia puts a likeness of Ankor Wat on its entry/exit stamp, which is way cool. Japan, while it should use a pikachu or a geisha likeness, prefers a drab secret sleuth puzzle sticker which only they immigration folks at
Sukatorando Yarudo can decipher. So here is what I propose: in the interest of world harmony and making standing in long queues more enjoyable, new themed passport stamps. Here, in honor of Cambodia's uniqueness, are my ideas. Consular officers out there, feel free to pass this along to the right folks.

Country and Passport likeness suggestion

Canada: Either an igloo or Bullwinkle
US: A big mushroom cloud with a certain non-Christian symbol in the middle of it. The Americans that this would offend probably don't have a passport so no worries there.
North Korea: What else? A likeness of Kimie.
Mexico: A corona or tequilla bottle
England: A likeness of Elton John, circa 1972
Germany: A scrath n' sniff stamp that smells like either Wienerschnitzel or Apfulkuchen, changes seasonally.
Korea: That Winter Sonata Guy, Yoon-san.

Hermit crabs get free housing on Japanese beaches

....................................

Well on NHK (Japanese public TV) last night I watched a very cool but very disturbing segment on the plight of Japanese hermit crabs. Japan is home to dozens of species of crabs in all hues and shapes. While the big ones are being overfished and consumed on crab-eating theme tours the hermit crabs are suffering habitat loss as Japan's Land and transportation ministry paves serene beaches. While fed to the public as a way to fight evil mother nature, concrete beaches actually speed erosion.

So imagine crabs trying to climb up a 5 meter concrete wall with their lives, and the survival of their species depending on it. The other part was how crabs find bottle caps and other plastic refuse and use it as a kind of ghetto-fied shell. A few crabs in the show were viewed drowned in tar balls leaked by large oil tankers in pacific shipping lanes and unluckily washed up on beaches in Okinawa prefecture's beaches.

It was a dissatisifying show, but stirred my activist urges once over.

Unify This!

49% don't want unity, they wanted you to lose!

The effectiveness of the government to unify will indeed be tested.

The powers in DC can unify us by cutting their losses in Iraq and work toward mending fences.

Stopping 5-star catered lunches for Halliburton contractors could better be spent on armor plating for vulnerable soldiers and their vehicles.

But then, we could come up with 101 ways the Bush team could have been effective before...

Stay tuned.

W is the big cheese again after a squeaky but nonetheless clean victory by getting 274 electoral votes to Kerry's 254. So last time it was Florida that sealed the win, this time Ohio was at center stage.

I hope you remember that you heard me say it first: in 2008 Bush will again be re-elected as the supreme ruler of the American Republic. 4 years on, the patriot act will have been furthered to include an identeifying microchip for all citizens and a flashlight with special bulb to cut through the noxious air repealing the Clean Air Act created.

But on the plus side, severely obese people will have to pay tax for taking up more than the average amount of space. Also, they wont live as long as their blubber will soak up too many toxins from the genetically altered heavy metal tained food chain. But for corporations it will be clear sailing.

And yes, Omaha and the heartland, believe in your Bush, those terrorists are keeping up nights devising a way to take away your chicken fried steak and Ford Excusions that truck your fat selves around at $100 a tank.
Don't fret, Dick and Bush are at the helm. Unless you are North Korea, Sudan, Iran, Yemen, Palestine, Wildlife, Water Quality or the Economy, you have nothing to worry about!

Ever been in this position before?







I am planning to help construct housing for disadvantaged families in Malaysia come March 2005.
The thing is, I may not be able to afford it! How is that for a pickle to be in.
I am bought in to the cause and purpose, but I have loans and a savings plan to keep to.
I suppose I should endure and participate despite my purse strings.
And that is all for now.