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5.28.2005
Province (=State) Tournament
Today I went along with the boys bb team to the province tournament.
We won the first game easily, but then the second game we lost 90 to 93.
And get this, Keisuke (senior, number 4, AMAZING player) made a three-pointer
ONE SECOND after the buzzer... WE COULD HAVE TIED!!
God, we were all so disappointed. Most everyone cried.
The bus ride home was terribly quiet,
but at the very end when we got off at the train station
we had a fun time taking pictures and giving presents to the seniors, etc.
(Seniors in Japan start to study for college entrance exams
around June, so this tournament was the last for them...
I can't believe I won't see these people when I go to practice Monday.)
Although the seniors won't be coming to practice anymore,
we'll get to see them one last time at the after-party.
I've never been good at or even remotely interested in sports,
but I am sincerely glad I joined the basketball club at Homei.
Cheering those players on today, I vicariously (vocab word!)
experienced the excitement (and disappointment) of being part of a team.
God, I love basketball. Slam Dunk is an excellent basketball-themed
manga for anyone who's interested.
Tomorrow we managers have to go along with the girls team
to THEIR game. We have no break!
I must admit, the girls aren't as fun to watch because,
well, they just aren't as good, but I'm sure it'll be fun.
Posted at 03:06 am by youme
5.22.2005
A few days ago in LHR (Long Home Room) we were divided into
groups of 6 or 7 and given the following instructions:
"All right now, you all were in an airplane crash and you're floating in
the middle of the ocean somewhere. There's one lifeboat but only 3 can
get on. Assume the role given to you and discuss with your group members
who will be saved. The different roles are:
Male, 85, a doctor but in need of nursing <not present in my group>
Female, 45, mother of three
Male, 17, has a criminal record
Female, 35, an egotistical businesswoman
Male, 30, easily bored and unemployed
Female, 10, from a rich family <me>
Male, 45, a senator (gay)"
I though the easiest solution was, "save the women and children",
like when the titanic sank. However, my group members had
a different opinion.
"Let's kill the gay dude."
"Yeah, who cares if he dies? He can't marry or have kids."
"Oh, come on, guys, that's too mean!"
"Hey, it's a matter of life or death! Obviously he's the first to go."
And even after I explained how gay people can marry in the U.S.,
and how they can adopt kids and how I actually have a few friends who
are homosexual, their comments took a different direction.
"Well, the gay dude probably want to go to America then, huh?"
"Yeah, he can swim his way there *snicker*."
"All right, down he goes."
...there were a few other groups that chose the homosexual male as well.
The other popular options were the doctor and the criminal high schooler.
I thought it was weird that everyone was choosing "who dies".
Isn't it better to look at it as, "who needs most to live"?
Our teacher commented on the results as,
"Hey kids, homosexuals are people too. There probably aren't any
in the classroom (how can she tell?) but they have a right to live too, right?"
Someone in the back shouted, "No way!"
Oh, I wanted to scream!!!!! "Gay people don't have a right to live"??
You gotta be kidding me, kid!! They sure deserve to live more than
some close-minded kid full of crap like you!
Da Vinci was gay, Shakespeare was gay... did they "not deserve to live"?
Ha. I laugh in the face of sexism. These people contributed so much
to the world, and you probably won't amount the half of what they were.
...is what I felt like saying but I kept my mouth shut.
But something has got to change here.
I know most of the kids didn't actually feel this way.
Most of its just peer pressure not allowing everyone to be open and accepting.
But that is not an excuse for comments like these.
I miss the U.S. at times like these... I miss V and Health and my friends
who are gay or bi or just obsessed with gay people or not.
Posted at 05:44 pm by youme
5.16.2005
I had a nice phone conversation with Katie and Alana (seperately) yesterday.
Pria, Megan and Natalie weren't home but I promise to call again soon ;)
There are a few other people I want to talk to
but it's difficult with the time difference and all...
I cut my hair myself! I feel very proud.
My mom's a hair stylist but that has nothing to do with it.
Anyway, it looks pretty much the same (short->shorter)
but it feels much lighter and I can tell the difference,
so it's all good. I used a special pair of "layering" scissors
my mom gave me, and a really small pair of nail-cutting scissors (lol).
Oi, I wish we were allowed to dye our hair.
Then I could cut my hair all funky and color it punk.
Fashion-inspired and in a good mood,
I stayed up till 12:30 listening to English music
(which I hadn't done in awhile) and trying on all my clothes.
Japanese fashion is so different and unique!!
I'm totally going to bite (copy) some of it while I'm here.
Posted at 06:10 pm by youme
5.13.2005
We have school Sat. because our parents are coming
sixth period to watch us study, although MY class has P.E.
Mid-terms (of the 1st trimester) is next-next week,
so I don't have to go to basketball after school until the tests are over.
Of course, the purpose of this "break" from club activities
is for us to study, but I don't plan on doing much of THAT.
Well, I will study some the day before, but a whole week?
Crazy. Anyway, Monday we have a day off to make up for
going to school Saturday, so I'll have tons of free time.
Actually, I think I might call the U.S.
I've been reading a lot of books lately.
Last week I read at the same time, coincidentally,
a Japanese book titled "Tokyo Tower" about a 19 year old
boy who falls in love with a 30-something married woman,
and an English book titled "Lolita" about a 40-something man
who falls in love with a 14 year old girl ("Lolita").
It was interesting comparing the two.
I felt sorry for both male characters, as they really couldn't
help what they felt towards their forbidden loves but,
hey, it's illegal. You just can't sleep with a married woman
or rape a teenage girl and get away with it.
I really want to go see this French movie, Chorus,
directed by the guy who directed Amelie (like I know his name).
That's one thing I like about Japan: unlike us self-absorbed Americans
their movie theatres and CD stores and video rentals
have products from several other countries.
(French films,@Korean music, Chinese movies...)
Posted at 04:39 am by youme
5.11.2005
Today Okano Elementary School had a day off for
"This School Was Built Today-day".
Thus, Futa, Hogara, and their mom Yuko drove to
Universal Studios Japan (USJ) in Osaka,
and I got to (skip school and) ride along.
I had been to Universal Studios before, in Orlando,
and it really isn't that interesting so I rode the train
from USJ to Amemura, or, "America Village".
(Amemura is a nickname, like "China Town"...
The city's actual name is Nanba.)
The minute I stepped off the train the city-ness of it all overwhelmed me.
The air smelt... bad, like Los Angeles.
There were people everywhere, many of them smoking,
and the narrow, crooked streets were filled with not only cars
but motorcycles and cyclists and in some places, orange construction cones.
The buildings were square and tall and packed one after another
right next to each other, and no matter how much I stood on my toes
I couldn't see past whatever block I was on.
I've always had a knack for getting lost, and today was no different.
It took me a whole hour to find this one manga kissa (manga cafe)
which was like, a 10 minute walk away from the train station.
A manga kissa is sort of like an internet cafe, where you pay
an hourly fee to read all the manga you want.
(I read the first two volumes of NANA.)
Then I ate a sandwich from a nearbye convenience store,
and wandered around all the different used clothing stores.
There was this one thrift store that reminded me of Urban Outfitters
in Seattle, because it was in a basement and it sold lots of
unique clothing as well as some cool furniture and dooly-dads.
At another store I was stopped from walking to the back
because "its another store". Basically, space is so valuable
here that on one floor there can be many "stores" connected
without any division except for a separate cash register.
How confusing! And the clothes are so expensive here!
I really value things differently now---
For example, $20 for a T-shirt seems like a deal here,
(since most T-shirts cost around $40!!)
when before I could go to Target and find something
reasonably fashionable for $6 off the sales rack.
And you can't try on clothing, lest some make-up or sweat or
head-lice or heavens know what got on to the merchandise.
You also can't return what you bought (without trying on!)
unless it had some major defect and you hadn't
cut off the tag and the receipt was still intact.
...There were also some really cool record/CD stores,
many of them specializing in European & American music
since, after all, its "America Village".
I listened to some Japanese Indie Rock and pondered
buying a CD ($10, cheaply printed cover) but decided against it
since I had bought 3 CDs off Yahoo! Auction just the other day.
In the end, though, I bought two T-shirts and a black jacket
with a removable hood, and had just enough money for the train
ride back to USJ where I met up with my host family.
Ah... I feel independent. Life is good. My feet hurt.
Posted at 05:46 am by youme
5.7.2005
5.5.2005
What I've Been Up To Lately
NOTE:My host family bought a new computer, so I have to set up
some stuff before I can put up my pictures. Don't worry! I'll probably have
time Sat. (day after tomorrow).
*We didn't/don't have school last friday-sunday and tuesday-thursday.
It's called "Golden Week" in Japan, and I think it's really stupid I had
to go to school in the middle of my vacation.
BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Friday (no school) and Saturday the entire basketball team headed to
Kaibara High School by train for a County Tournament.
Out of 9 schools both the boys & girls team came in 5th place.
A so-so outcome, but at least we can go to the Province Tournament as well now.
Anyway, the weather was really really hot & humid,
and everyone was sweating like crazy.
The games are played in the school's gym,
which has two basketball courts side by side.
There's a balcony that wraps around 3 sides of the gym
(because on the 4th side there's a stage for assemblies & stuff)
so the audience goes up to the 2nd floor
and looks down on the players from the balcony.
Standing, I might add. The cheers are really fun though.
Obviously, they don't have cheerleaders,
so the freshmen who don't get to play and the mangers of each team
use megaphones and kazoos and crap to cheer their team on.
Honestly, I think I burned a few hundred calories cheering.
We were all exhausted by lunch, but the senior managers had made
some snacks for the team (cookies, pound cakes, etc.) so
we regained most of our energy :)
Other than cheering, I had to run across the court at half time
to gather the players' water bottles and fill them up with cold tea
and Calpis water (brand of sports drink-I know, terrible name.)
The more experienced managers recorded who scored
how many points and stuff, and the freshmen managers
videotaped the games. Overall, we were pretty busy.
ALMOST A DATE
Takeru, a senior on the boys BB team had told me earlier that,
"Hey, there's this friend of mine that goes to an all-boys school
that wants to meet you. Are you busy Sunday around 12?
He'll be waiting for you at the CD rental shop."
So, with Takeru's assurance that he would come along as well,
I headed to meet this guy Sunday around noon.
Luckily, Takeru showed up as well as Yuuki (who wanted to meet me)
and Kohei (another friend-he had a date with his gf afterwards though).
Unluckily, Takeru left after 30 minutes to go see some band's concert.
However Kohei stayed so I wasn't all alone with this guy Yuuki.
There isn't much to do in Sasayama in the first place,
but it happened to be pouring rain that day (despite the hot, hot
weather the previous week) so we walked to the train station
and sat talking on some benches, sheltered from the rain.
They were both nice guys, but we didn't have much in common.
Which is too bad, but Yuuki has a lot of foreign friends
(exchange students from Europe and stuff) so I made him
promise to let me meet them sometime.
Overall, it was a nice way to spend my otherwise boring weekend.
BUNKASAI (Cultural Festival)
Tuesday (after going to school for ONE WHOLE DAY Monday...)
I went to Nada High School's Bunkasai with Yukari,
a friend of mine from my kumi (class) and art.
Nada High School is an elite all-boys school in Kobe.
Half of last year's graduates made it into Tokyo University,
the Japanese equivalent of Harvard. Which is just crazy.
Anyway, I saw some Nada students on a TV show
getting ready for their festival, so I thought I might go and
see how an elite school's bunkasai compares with Homei's.
(Every high school in Japan has a bunkasai once a year.)
It was AMAZING!! I mean, it was like a real festival.
They had a home-made planitarium, a bazaar in the gym,
food in the cafeteria, a live rock band on the second floor,
various stalls outside selling everything from used books to
Nada get-into-the-college-you-want-charms, and a stage outside
where they had a match-making type thing going on.@
It took forever to get there (1 hour train ride and a 20 min walk)
but it was worth it. I have some pictures of this that I'll put up later.
...today (Thursday, still no school, but I have to go tomorrow)
the boys BB team had a game with some graduates.
They were really good, and much taller on average than our current team.
The highlight of my day was a bug flying up a player's shorts.
He literally danced around the basketball court until the bug
flew out and another player killed it with a broom.
I never though that could actually happen...
I mean, you hear the phrase "Ants in your pants" but that's
something that only happens on The Rugrats.
Posted at 05:23 am by youme
4.25.2005
Click Here to know what I'm talking about.
Scary, scary, scary. I have actually been on that train before
on my way to Osaka with my host family.
The train station that it left from (Takaraduka) is only 1 or 2 towns away,
and many people in Sasayama have relations there.
The train was on a special route that stopped at a college campus,
so there were many students aboard, possibly some kids who were
attending school from their parents' home in Sasayama.
It is very, very possible that some kids at Homei High
have lost someone... but how can you tell?
How do you go to school when someone you love dies?
How do you comfort someone like that?
I'd hate to be the driver. I think he died. It's probably better that way.
The news last night said 50 people died in the crash,
but today the number's up to 70 something.
I've been thinking about mortality,
that possibility that everyone I know could die tomorrow.
Could die today. Could die 50 years from now.
You just can't control stuff like that.
And it reminded me how, as a a kid,
not getting my parents' kiss goodbye in the morning
made me sad the whole day, because it felt like
they had forgotten to love me amidst all their grown-up business.
When I have a kid I will always kiss them goodbye.
Posted at 06:29 pm by youme
4.18.2005
50m In 9.4 Seconds... At Least I Wasn't Last
Check these websites out for a good laugh:
www.reviewtheworld.com
www.whowouldbuythat.com
www.dumb.com
Its 2nd period right now and once again, I am alone in the Computer Lab.
I finished Lesson 1 of 8 from www.byu.edu, and I was going to take the online test,
but you need your social security # for that too. Drat.
I just realized that I didn't explain on my blog about joining the basketball team.
Obviously, I'm not actually on the team, but I'm what they call here a manager.
A manager is basically like a water-boy, except they're usually female.
On average each sports team has 2-4 managers, but the BB team has 7.
We make tea, set up the gym for practice, do laundry, control the timer-thing,
do all the first-aid stuff, etc... Its a lot more fun than you might imagine.
Because there are so many of us, the workload is pretty light.
Most of the time we managers stand around talking.
You have to come to practice on weekends too, though, which kinda sucks.
Not that I have anything else to do. Surprisingly, I have very little HW.
I guess English is where the 2 hours of HW comes from for the others.
Ha-ha, suckers!
J/k.
I'm grateful my parents taught me English.
I decided not to join the drama club after all.
I like Hibiki, but the other members are just... I don't know.
Everyone else I talk to sort of grimaces when I mention the drama club.
No one is really interested in their plays, and I'm not about to waste time practicing
for a play no one will see (or care about, rather) with people I'm not especially fond of.
So that's that.
I might join the Interact Club though, which is the equivalent of Key Club.
They operate mostly on Saturdays and Sundays,
so I could still go to BB practice during the schoolweek.
Posted at 06:22 pm by youme
Japanese Guys Can Be Friendly After All
Lots of basketball practice. I usually get home around 6:30.
Well, I made a few new friends today.
There are only 10 students in my art class (you can choose between art or
an extra English/language arts/math period).
One of these 10 is Yota, who is actually a senior, but was held back a grade.
He plays tennis and his right arm is in a sling because he shattered his elbow at practice.
Apparently, 5 or 6 years ago a girl named Maggie Graham from Walla Walla
homestayed with his family, and one of his older brothers was an exchange student to the U.S.
Yota's really easy to talk to, and he isn't scary at all.
I mean, most of the girls are afraid to talk to him because he's older... which is stupid.
There's so much division between grades (and gender) here, it's quite tiring.
I also made some friends at the Treasurer Meeting.
In Japan, all the students are divided into different home room classes (1 kumi - 8 kumi),
and each class has its own schedule. So basically, everyone in 3 kumi
has the same periods. ...What I am trying to say is that in each class,
there are different positions that have to be filled, usually by 1 boy & 1 girl.
Like President, Secretary, and also P.E. Manager and Safety Checker.
So... I went to the Treasurer Meeting after school with the boy treasurer of our class, Masato.
Usually boys & girls don't talk to each other in the classroom, but Masato was very friendly.
He introduced me to some of his friends from other classes that happened to be treasurers too.
Overall today was a good day. I also talked to some guys from the Karate Club.
Posted at 05:26 am by youme
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My Profile
Age: 15
Birthday: 6/19/1989
Sign: Gemini
Ethnicity: Japanese/American
Fav. Movies:
1)Moulin Rouge
2)Chocolat
3)About a Boy
4)The Pianist
5)The Breakfast Club
Fav. Music: Punk/Pop/Classic/Alt ROCK!!
Some Good Artists: The Beatles, Blondie, Butterfly Boucher, The Cure, Everclear, Five for Fighting, The Hives, Jason Mraz, Jem, Maroon 5, Michelle Shocked, Nirvana, The Presidents of the United States of America, Queen, Switchfoot, Talking Heads... the list goes on.
My life philosophy (lol)
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
-Emily Dickenson
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