Hiya folks.
I'm writing early today because I don't think I'll get another chance to later on. Here's todays agenda:
Morning: Travel to various golf shops around the city, gathering information for a client ("Sassy Swings"). That should bring us right up to...
Lunch
Afternoon: Off to Tokyo Big Sight for another trade fair. Today it is... ifia Japan! I'm actually excited about this. A food convention! Come on! That's gotta be awesome!
That should take up the rest of the work day. Then tonight is a big night as well. I'm playing again at the same club as last week. They invited me back, and this time they're giving me ten more minutes than last week! I've been busy getting prepared, and I think I'm ready. I'm so excited. Plus, most of the people from last week should be back, so I can really start making some friends here. I already sorta made one.
Oh! Speaking of which, I made friends with one of the receptionists in my building. She's really nice. I came into the office last night to get some work done and to practice singing since I can't really do it at home, and she was here (she had to work 'til 9 pm = sucks), so we got talking for a little while. She wrote her name down for me, it's Hachiya Tomoe. Hachiya being the family name, and Tomoe being her own name. I invited her to the show tonight, but she said she has to work. Oh well. She said maybe next time.
I had dinner with Michael last night at this tiny place right around the corner from my apartment which specializes in maguro, which is basically raw tuna meat. I had maguro kim chi and it was soooooo good! They also had 100 yen glasses of beer, which is just amazingly cheap (it's hard to find beer for less than 600 yen a glass)! So I'll definitely have to go back there in the future.
Also, Grant and Michael are leaving Tokyo today, which is sad. They are off to Hiroshima and then Kyoto for a week, but then they'll be coming back to Tokyo again for one night before they go back to America, so at least it won't be the last I see of them.
They went on a day trip to Kamakura on Monday and showed me some pictures and now I really want to go there. There's all sorts of temples and stuff, and a giant Buddha. I'll have to go there one day on a weekend. I should have gotten a Tokyo guide book before I came here. That was kind of silly of me. I'll have to try and find a bookstore with English books here. I'm sure there are some around somewhere.
Okay, time to get ready to head out to the golf stores. Mata, ashita ne! (Until tomorrow)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The one with the horse dentist
^^^ That's a "Friends" reference. All their episodes are called "The one with..." A few of you will understand it, and that's okay. The 'horse dentist' thing, though, that comes later.
Japan has some serious news items going down.
1) The Farm Minister of Japan committed suicide yesterday. He was involved in some huge money scandal, and I guess he couldn't take the shame. He apparently wrote 8 suicide notes to different people. Shino-san is really upset about it, actually, because he thinks it will generate sympathy for him and the people associated with him and I guess Shino-san doesn't like them. I don't really get it, but Shino-san went off on a tangent about it and then apologized profusely for getting so emotional (sooooooo Japanese).
2) A Japanese movie won the Grand Prix, which is the first runner-up to the Palme D'or (best picture), at Cannes this weekend. That's pretty sweet, I guess. I would love to see it. It's called "Mogari no Mori" (The Mourning Forest), and it was the last film shown in the competition, receiving a 5-minute standing ovation afterwards. "The movie's story focuses on two people -- a retirement home resident and a caretaker at the center -- struggling to overcome the deaths of loved ones, against the background of a traditional Japanese view of nature." (from Mainichi News). Side-note: A Korean girl won best actress for her role in a movie called "Secret Sunshine" and I really want to see that, given my recent growing interest in Korean film.
3) Miss Japan won Miss Universe 2007. She's a 20-year-old ballet dancer named Riyo Mori, and the first Japanese girl ever to pass the audition to be a Rockette, and I think she'd be perfect for me, don't you? *(#^_^#)* --------->
I have spent pretty much all day today researching Japan's market for veterinary products. We have a new-ish client that wants to export their animal health products to Japan. Their specialty is horse products, but it's freaking impossible to find anything about the market for horse health products in Japan. But randomly enough, Ted actually knows a guy whose whole job is to clean horses' teeth. He goes around to all the different race tracks and to peoples' farms and stuff in Japan and cleans horses' teeth and files them down and stuff. Totally random. So anyways, he might be able to help us out.
I also just found out today that Ted is gonna be leaving in a week or two to go on a 3-week vacation. So it'll just be me and Shino-san here for 3 weeks. I'm a bit worried that will dramatically increase my workload, but oh well. It probably won't. I mean, I'm sure Ted's smart enough to take care of business before he goes so I won't get overwhelmed, but you never know...
Japan has some serious news items going down.
1) The Farm Minister of Japan committed suicide yesterday. He was involved in some huge money scandal, and I guess he couldn't take the shame. He apparently wrote 8 suicide notes to different people. Shino-san is really upset about it, actually, because he thinks it will generate sympathy for him and the people associated with him and I guess Shino-san doesn't like them. I don't really get it, but Shino-san went off on a tangent about it and then apologized profusely for getting so emotional (sooooooo Japanese).
2) A Japanese movie won the Grand Prix, which is the first runner-up to the Palme D'or (best picture), at Cannes this weekend. That's pretty sweet, I guess. I would love to see it. It's called "Mogari no Mori" (The Mourning Forest), and it was the last film shown in the competition, receiving a 5-minute standing ovation afterwards. "The movie's story focuses on two people -- a retirement home resident and a caretaker at the center -- struggling to overcome the deaths of loved ones, against the background of a traditional Japanese view of nature." (from Mainichi News). Side-note: A Korean girl won best actress for her role in a movie called "Secret Sunshine" and I really want to see that, given my recent growing interest in Korean film.
3) Miss Japan won Miss Universe 2007. She's a 20-year-old ballet dancer named Riyo Mori, and the first Japanese girl ever to pass the audition to be a Rockette, and I think she'd be perfect for me, don't you? *(#^_^#)* --------->
I have spent pretty much all day today researching Japan's market for veterinary products. We have a new-ish client that wants to export their animal health products to Japan. Their specialty is horse products, but it's freaking impossible to find anything about the market for horse health products in Japan. But randomly enough, Ted actually knows a guy whose whole job is to clean horses' teeth. He goes around to all the different race tracks and to peoples' farms and stuff in Japan and cleans horses' teeth and files them down and stuff. Totally random. So anyways, he might be able to help us out.
I also just found out today that Ted is gonna be leaving in a week or two to go on a 3-week vacation. So it'll just be me and Shino-san here for 3 weeks. I'm a bit worried that will dramatically increase my workload, but oh well. It probably won't. I mean, I'm sure Ted's smart enough to take care of business before he goes so I won't get overwhelmed, but you never know...
Monday, May 28, 2007
But I'm back!
Whew! That was a crazy intense meeting! First of all, I think they pawned me off to their secretary who didn't really know anything about the place because they probably figured I was just gonna grab some brochures and then leave, but then I started asking questions and the poor woman didn't know the answers to anything I was asking, so her first instinct was just to give me more brochures/books, but that didn't really help me at all, so then she went asking other people, and finally she decided she better let me talk to someone higher up on the pyramid, or whatever, and so she passed me off to a Ms. Ruri Kato, the "International Program Officer" working in their research department, who was very very nice and easy to talk to. She was able to answer my questions and everything and it turns out she's going to St. Louis very soon because they work hand in hand with the University of Missouri-St. Louis, so she's going there for some meeting, but she said it was very hard for her to find literature on St. Louis in Japan and I said that wasn't surprising. I told her she could probably find a lot on the internet, and if she ever had any questions she could certainly email me anytime. And I just sent her an email thanking her for everything and telling her again that she could email me with any questions. Anyways, I hope I hear from her because she was really nice.
Completely off-topic now, I forgot to mention that there was a used book fair in the plaza right near where I live yesterday (and maybe today too, because I noticed at night they didn't take the stalls down, they just covered them with tarps). I found the book "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino, which I think my mom is reading right now, unless she finished it. But I didn't buy it because I thought that might be a bit too difficult to read. I ended up finding "プラダを着た悪魔" (The Devil Wears Prada) on a 100-yen table so I picked that up because I really liked the movie and thought that might not be too hard to read. And I figured it would be a slightly more productive way of spending my down-time at work, rather than just surfing the internet all day.
Well, speaking of that, I think I'm gonna start reading it right now, since I've got 2 hours until I get off work. Sayonara, folks.
Completely off-topic now, I forgot to mention that there was a used book fair in the plaza right near where I live yesterday (and maybe today too, because I noticed at night they didn't take the stalls down, they just covered them with tarps). I found the book "Grotesque" by Natsuo Kirino, which I think my mom is reading right now, unless she finished it. But I didn't buy it because I thought that might be a bit too difficult to read. I ended up finding "プラダを着た悪魔" (The Devil Wears Prada) on a 100-yen table so I picked that up because I really liked the movie and thought that might not be too hard to read. And I figured it would be a slightly more productive way of spending my down-time at work, rather than just surfing the internet all day.
Well, speaking of that, I think I'm gonna start reading it right now, since I've got 2 hours until I get off work. Sayonara, folks.
Man oh man, I love Japan
My very dear high school friends Michael and Grant are here for a few days on vacation, so I was fortunate enough to spend some time with them this weekend. First of all, what a pair of individuals these two are. Michael is--and I say this with the utmost affection--a total nerd. He was an astronomy major at Michigan State, and will be going to grad school at the California Institute of Technology. I'm sure you all know, that school's no picnic. I think it'll be perfect for him. He's an absolute genius, and a very critical thinker. Grant, while also incredibly smart, is a very sarcastic, very easy-going guy. The stories they've told me of their adventures so far here are pretty hilarious. I'm not sure I even know how to describe it properly, but the playoff between their personalities just makes for great, almost sitcom-like, story-telling.
Last night we decided to try to find an all-you-can-drink cruise. Ted had told me about a 2-hour long cruise around the harbor area with an open bar that wasn't too expensive, and he actually pointed it out to me on the way back from the convention last week. So we went down to the pier and went asking about it. Nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. Everybody I asked laughed at me for a moment, and then told me "we don't have that here, but maybe try next door." And so, silently cursing Ted for making me feel like a fool in front of the Japanese people, we kept asking next door, but no one next door had it. So we eventually gave up, of course, and decided to go on a dinner cruise that we had passed by, called "Symphony." I guess we should've figured from the name, but it turned out that 'Symphony' was much classier than we were prepared for, with our t-shirts and jeans (Grant in shorts), and Grant and Michael with their backpacks. It was a beautiful dining room and great food and everything, but all the other passengers on the cruise were couples dressed in suits and dinner gowns. It was a very romantic engagement. We had a good time, though--especially after the 3rd or 4th glass of beer. hah. Really, though, it was a nice experience and It would be lovely to go back sometime when I'm more properly attired. Maybe if I find a nice girl who will go with me *wink wink*
I am getting more and more excited for playing at the Ruby Room this Wednesday. My cold is gone, so my voice should be much better; they're giving me ten more minutes to play this week than they did last week; and I'll already have friends there this time. I actually emailed Satoshi, the guy I talked to last week for quite a while, on Friday just to say "hi," and "it was nice to meet you," and "I hope to see you again next week," and he emailed me back the next day and said he would definitely be there next week. This is gonna be awesome. This week it's actually a set show, not an open mic night, so there might be more people, I dunno. I'm opening for a funk band from Yokohama, I think. haha. Should be interesting. I'll bring my camera this time and try to have someone (like Satoshi) take a couple pictures of me while I'm playing.
My stomach is seriously making some noises. I just ate breakfast, so I dunno what's going on. Maybe I didn't eat enough. I have no clue. I haven't heard it make this much noise in quite a long time. I'm gonna go grab some water. Then I've gotta prepare for my meeting later. Yes, my meeting. I'm meeting with some people who work at the Shibusawa Ei'ichi Memorial Foundation, basically just to get information from them about Shibusawa Ei'ichi and about their foundation--what they do, etc. The exciting thing is that I'm doing this on my own and it will be entirely in Japanese. woohoo! Here goes nothing...
Last night we decided to try to find an all-you-can-drink cruise. Ted had told me about a 2-hour long cruise around the harbor area with an open bar that wasn't too expensive, and he actually pointed it out to me on the way back from the convention last week. So we went down to the pier and went asking about it. Nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. Everybody I asked laughed at me for a moment, and then told me "we don't have that here, but maybe try next door." And so, silently cursing Ted for making me feel like a fool in front of the Japanese people, we kept asking next door, but no one next door had it. So we eventually gave up, of course, and decided to go on a dinner cruise that we had passed by, called "Symphony." I guess we should've figured from the name, but it turned out that 'Symphony' was much classier than we were prepared for, with our t-shirts and jeans (Grant in shorts), and Grant and Michael with their backpacks. It was a beautiful dining room and great food and everything, but all the other passengers on the cruise were couples dressed in suits and dinner gowns. It was a very romantic engagement. We had a good time, though--especially after the 3rd or 4th glass of beer. hah. Really, though, it was a nice experience and It would be lovely to go back sometime when I'm more properly attired. Maybe if I find a nice girl who will go with me *wink wink*
I am getting more and more excited for playing at the Ruby Room this Wednesday. My cold is gone, so my voice should be much better; they're giving me ten more minutes to play this week than they did last week; and I'll already have friends there this time. I actually emailed Satoshi, the guy I talked to last week for quite a while, on Friday just to say "hi," and "it was nice to meet you," and "I hope to see you again next week," and he emailed me back the next day and said he would definitely be there next week. This is gonna be awesome. This week it's actually a set show, not an open mic night, so there might be more people, I dunno. I'm opening for a funk band from Yokohama, I think. haha. Should be interesting. I'll bring my camera this time and try to have someone (like Satoshi) take a couple pictures of me while I'm playing.
My stomach is seriously making some noises. I just ate breakfast, so I dunno what's going on. Maybe I didn't eat enough. I have no clue. I haven't heard it make this much noise in quite a long time. I'm gonna go grab some water. Then I've gotta prepare for my meeting later. Yes, my meeting. I'm meeting with some people who work at the Shibusawa Ei'ichi Memorial Foundation, basically just to get information from them about Shibusawa Ei'ichi and about their foundation--what they do, etc. The exciting thing is that I'm doing this on my own and it will be entirely in Japanese. woohoo! Here goes nothing...
Friday, May 25, 2007
"Paprika"
...is the new anime film from Satoshi Kon, a man whose previous works I absolutely adore. I cannot wait to see this new one; the more I hear about it, the more fantastic it sounds. You can read a new york times article about Satoshi and the new film at the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/movies/20kehr.html?_r=1&ref=movies&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/movies/20kehr.html?_r=1&ref=movies&oref=slogin
And Score 2 for Lawrence
1) I got my business cards! They're so cool! Double-sided and all. AND I get an official Missouri state business card case, with the official Missouri seal on the cover! oooooooohhh!
2) Grant and Michael have arrived! They just called me and I will be meeting up with them right after work!
2) Grant and Michael have arrived! They just called me and I will be meeting up with them right after work!
Score 1 for Japan
I just found out the next Harry Potter movie is opening here in Japan something like 2 weeks before it opens to the rest of the world. Hah! Take that!
疲れた！('tsukareta', I'm exhausted)
Man, I just had what felt like the longest conversation of my life. Apparently, now my job is really getting going. Shino asked me to call this museum and get some information from them about various things and to, if possible, go visit them and pick up some literature, brochures, etc. So I was on the phone with them asking various questions and setting up an appointment to go visit the museum, made more complicated by the fact that the museum is actually closed for renovations. YIKES! So anyways, they made an exception for me since "I'm with the government" (hehe) and I'm going there on Monday. alone. This should be interesting...
Meanwhile...
I feel so useful right now. Shino-san asked me to call some hotels and find out how long it takes to get to a certain place by taxi from each hotel and I did it. That was probably the most work I've done all week. I hope they give me more stuff like that. It was kinda fun cuz I got to practice my Japanese. I did some serious keyboard research online last night and I found 3 or 4 stores that sell used instruments, including keyboards, so I'm gonna go check them out today after work.
It's raining today, which is unfortunate for a few reasons:
-- I don't get to experience one of my favorite things about working in this particular office, which is the pre-school that is right next door. You can see all the little kids run around outside from our window, and you can hear them yelling and stuff, but it's muffled enough so that it's not abrasive and annoying, but it's just so cute. Plus, I still maintain that Japanese kids are the cutest in the world. Which is why I'm gonna adopt one (no, not anytime soon).
-- Grant and Michael come today, which means they have to walk around with their luggage in the rain. I have experienced that and it sucks.
-- There are couple things that are acceptable to do with an umbrella when you enter a building: some buildings have a rack near the door where you can just stick your umbrella in a slot and leave it there until you go back outside (some of the larger buildings have larger racks with locks so nobody can steal your umbrella).
Other buildings, like the one I work in, have very long and narrow disposable plastic bags that you can stick your umbrella in. These are also generally located by the doors and usually are in very simple to use dispensers where you just stick your umbrella in and pull it right back out and voila! your kasa (japanese word for umbrella) is bagged! usually.... except the one in our building is not like that. you actually have to pull the bag off first and open it yourself and stick your umbrella in. it's really very tough to use. I made an absolute fool of myself trying to get my umbrella into one of those things this morning. The cute receptionist had to come out and help me. How embarrassing! Then again, at least now I have a conversation starter for the next time I see her. hehe.
Being in the rain here does remind me how well prepared they are for rain in this country. And it's so different from the US. First of all, nobody wears raincoats. No one at all. Everybody has an umbrella, and if you don't, there is quite literally a store on every block that sells umbrellas. And they're cheap, too. 100 to 200 yen (1 or 2 bucks). I bought mine at 7-11 this morning for 100 yen. And it's not like it's a bad quality umbrella, either. It's pretty decent. Also, nobody carries around those compact umbrellas that fold down to the size of a quarter, or whatever. Everybody uses the real, cane-style umbrellas, which is awesome because I love those kinds of umbrellas. I wish more people used them in the US.
Ah, yes, I forgot about yesterday! Ted and I went to a trade fair at Tokyo Big Sight, a big convention center in Odaiba, a small island right off the coast that's actually pretty close to where I live. It was awesome. Well, the convention itself was kind of boring, but it was a really cool experience. There's only one train line that goes to Odaiba, and it's the most expensive line in Tokyo. But since it was a trip for work, I didn't actually have to pay for it. yay! The train ride was about 20 minutes. The Island is kind of like a rectangle, and the train winds back and forth, slowly making its way to the far end of the island, where Big Sight is, so it takes a while to get there. But on the way, you can see all the malls and stuff on Odaiba, and watch as we cross the bay. There's also a statue of liberty replica on Odaiba that's about 20 feet tall, I guess. Big Sight is a pretty cool-looking building. Above the base of it, where all the convention halls are, there are 4 gold upside-down pyramids coming out of the roof; it's kind of hard to explain, so...
I don't know what's actually in those pyramids, though. Maybe next time I can find out. Ted said I will probably be going to trade fairs with him there about once a week, and that I'd probably be sick of it by the end. heh.
I don't think I've ever felt so very professional before. I had to wear a suit to it and there are just tons and tons of businessmen all around, so it's just such a professional atmosphere. It was really neat. We actually went to two different fairs that were going on at the same time. These were both "environmental" fairs. Companies showcasing their environmentally friendly products or services. It was really interesting. Plus, there were all the campaign girls in their ridiculous, but cute outfits. I usually only associate those kinds of campaign girls with anime or electronics conventions, but Ted said they have them for pretty much anything. Although the outfits were, I think, more conservative (not quite so skimpy) than they would be for anime or electronics conventions. Next time I'm going to take my camera and I'll show you all some pictures so you know what I'm talking about. I also plan on taking some pictures of my office next week and stuff. I was gonna do that today, but it rained.
wow, T.G.I.F. man.
I met some of the other people living in my building last night. There are 2 black guys from Los Angeles right down the hall, Shawn and Clayton, they're really cool. I don't know if one of them (or both) is a rapper or something, but I overheard one of the dudes talking on his cell phone to someone and he said "I'm just gettin ready to go to the studio." and they listen to a heck of a lot of rap music. I also met a girl named Haruka, but I don't think she actually lives there. I think she's dating the guy who lives next door to me. I dunno. I could be wrong. And I met a guy from Brazil, but I couldn't understand his name because not only did he have a really heavy accent, but he mumbled like nobody's business. I think it started with a 'C.' He did like to shake hands a lot, though, which was hilarious.
"Where are you from?"
"America."
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"What's your name?"
"Lawrence"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"How long you here for?"
"2 months"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
It was literally after every sentence I said. I guess it was his way of communicating that he understands without actually having to communicate, but it was just funny.
My business cards were supposed to come today, but they're not here yet. :-(
Almost time for 昼ご飯 (hiru-gohan, lunch).
It's raining today, which is unfortunate for a few reasons:
-- I don't get to experience one of my favorite things about working in this particular office, which is the pre-school that is right next door. You can see all the little kids run around outside from our window, and you can hear them yelling and stuff, but it's muffled enough so that it's not abrasive and annoying, but it's just so cute. Plus, I still maintain that Japanese kids are the cutest in the world. Which is why I'm gonna adopt one (no, not anytime soon).
-- Grant and Michael come today, which means they have to walk around with their luggage in the rain. I have experienced that and it sucks.
-- There are couple things that are acceptable to do with an umbrella when you enter a building: some buildings have a rack near the door where you can just stick your umbrella in a slot and leave it there until you go back outside (some of the larger buildings have larger racks with locks so nobody can steal your umbrella).
Other buildings, like the one I work in, have very long and narrow disposable plastic bags that you can stick your umbrella in. These are also generally located by the doors and usually are in very simple to use dispensers where you just stick your umbrella in and pull it right back out and voila! your kasa (japanese word for umbrella) is bagged! usually.... except the one in our building is not like that. you actually have to pull the bag off first and open it yourself and stick your umbrella in. it's really very tough to use. I made an absolute fool of myself trying to get my umbrella into one of those things this morning. The cute receptionist had to come out and help me. How embarrassing! Then again, at least now I have a conversation starter for the next time I see her. hehe.
Being in the rain here does remind me how well prepared they are for rain in this country. And it's so different from the US. First of all, nobody wears raincoats. No one at all. Everybody has an umbrella, and if you don't, there is quite literally a store on every block that sells umbrellas. And they're cheap, too. 100 to 200 yen (1 or 2 bucks). I bought mine at 7-11 this morning for 100 yen. And it's not like it's a bad quality umbrella, either. It's pretty decent. Also, nobody carries around those compact umbrellas that fold down to the size of a quarter, or whatever. Everybody uses the real, cane-style umbrellas, which is awesome because I love those kinds of umbrellas. I wish more people used them in the US.
Ah, yes, I forgot about yesterday! Ted and I went to a trade fair at Tokyo Big Sight, a big convention center in Odaiba, a small island right off the coast that's actually pretty close to where I live. It was awesome. Well, the convention itself was kind of boring, but it was a really cool experience. There's only one train line that goes to Odaiba, and it's the most expensive line in Tokyo. But since it was a trip for work, I didn't actually have to pay for it. yay! The train ride was about 20 minutes. The Island is kind of like a rectangle, and the train winds back and forth, slowly making its way to the far end of the island, where Big Sight is, so it takes a while to get there. But on the way, you can see all the malls and stuff on Odaiba, and watch as we cross the bay. There's also a statue of liberty replica on Odaiba that's about 20 feet tall, I guess. Big Sight is a pretty cool-looking building. Above the base of it, where all the convention halls are, there are 4 gold upside-down pyramids coming out of the roof; it's kind of hard to explain, so...
I don't know what's actually in those pyramids, though. Maybe next time I can find out. Ted said I will probably be going to trade fairs with him there about once a week, and that I'd probably be sick of it by the end. heh.
I don't think I've ever felt so very professional before. I had to wear a suit to it and there are just tons and tons of businessmen all around, so it's just such a professional atmosphere. It was really neat. We actually went to two different fairs that were going on at the same time. These were both "environmental" fairs. Companies showcasing their environmentally friendly products or services. It was really interesting. Plus, there were all the campaign girls in their ridiculous, but cute outfits. I usually only associate those kinds of campaign girls with anime or electronics conventions, but Ted said they have them for pretty much anything. Although the outfits were, I think, more conservative (not quite so skimpy) than they would be for anime or electronics conventions. Next time I'm going to take my camera and I'll show you all some pictures so you know what I'm talking about. I also plan on taking some pictures of my office next week and stuff. I was gonna do that today, but it rained.
wow, T.G.I.F. man.
I met some of the other people living in my building last night. There are 2 black guys from Los Angeles right down the hall, Shawn and Clayton, they're really cool. I don't know if one of them (or both) is a rapper or something, but I overheard one of the dudes talking on his cell phone to someone and he said "I'm just gettin ready to go to the studio." and they listen to a heck of a lot of rap music. I also met a girl named Haruka, but I don't think she actually lives there. I think she's dating the guy who lives next door to me. I dunno. I could be wrong. And I met a guy from Brazil, but I couldn't understand his name because not only did he have a really heavy accent, but he mumbled like nobody's business. I think it started with a 'C.' He did like to shake hands a lot, though, which was hilarious.
"Where are you from?"
"America."
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"What's your name?"
"Lawrence"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"How long you here for?"
"2 months"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
It was literally after every sentence I said. I guess it was his way of communicating that he understands without actually having to communicate, but it was just funny.
My business cards were supposed to come today, but they're not here yet. :-(
Almost time for 昼ご飯 (hiru-gohan, lunch).
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Chapter 34: Things Get Interesting
Last night was a night of many firsts:
1) my first performance in Tokyo. Or in Japan, rather. It was awesome. I don't know if awesome is even a good enough word, but it was awesome. First of all, here's the website of the place I played at (it's in English): http://www.rubyroomtokyo.com. I was allowed to play for 30 minutes, including set-up time, so more like 25 minutes. I almost didn't go at all because my throat wasn't really feeling much better, but thank goodness I didn't skip out. As soon as I started playing, my voice just felt like it was back to normal. Of course, I only played songs that wouldn't strain my voice too much, but they were good nonetheless. I felt good singing and I didn't feel nearly as nervous as I always do when I perform back home. I guess playing in front of a ton of strangers is way less stressful (for me, at least) than playing in front of your friends. The venue is really cool, very intimate, and everyone there was so nice and friendly. Most of the people actually already knew each other pretty well because some of the same people come back week after week (and from now on, I will be one of them). I spent most of the night talking to this guy Satoshi, who is 24 years old and he gave me his business card which said he is a "music concierge." I asked him what that meant and he said he helps small bands find venues to play in and stuff. So I told him, hey, I'm a small band. He said he'd look into it. He seemed very happy to have made friends with me and he said he couldn't wait to talk to me more next week. Oh yeah, they invited me back to open for some funk band next week. Their keyboard sucked, though, and it had no pedal, haha, so I'm going to try to find one that's decent and not too much money and then I can sell it when I go back home.
2) my first conversation with a Japanese person in which he/she did not tell me that my Japanese was excellent. This is a good thing. Actually a great thing. I've heard it said time and time again that when the Japanese people stop telling you how great your Japanese is, that's when your Japanese is actually REALLY good. And the whole night while I was talking to Satoshi, he never said a thing about it. We just talked as though it was normal that I was speaking Japanese. It was awesome.
3) my first time being approached and propositioned by a prostitute. And in fact, I was approached by not one; not two or three, but five of them on the way home last night. It was crazy. I guess Wednesday is hooker night in Shimbashi. Basically, if you just ignore them they'll leave you alone. It was totally off-putting, though, because they were dressed like normal women so at first I couldn't tell if this was just a normal person who wanted to talk to me or if something else was going on... It didn't take long for me to figure it out, though. One of the women, though, was so persistent with me. She followed me for almost a block just saying like "you want a massage? I'm very cute. It's okay to look at me," etc. and I was so close to pulling out some of the phrases I've never had to use before like "ざけんなよ！" (fuck off!) or "おとといこい！" (basically the same), but she pulled away from me before I got that far. Goodness, though, that was a crazy experience. I guess they thrive there because that's the area where all the businessmen go at night to drink or play pachinko or whatever.
Speaking of pachinko, the thing that always amuses me on my walk to work in the morning is seeing so many people lined up outside of the pachinko parlors, just waiting for them to open. I can't believe it's so popular.
In other good news, Grant Barton and Michael Anderson (two of my best friends from high school) will be coming to Tokyo this weekend! They are spending a a couple weeks traveling around Japan, and they're gonna first spend 5 days here in Tokyo. I'm so excited. I've gotta figure out what to do with them...
Okay, I'm still on such a high from that show last night. haha. It was so fun and amazing. Plus, now I have two more Japanese people in my cell phone's phone book. Must make more friends!
Tokyo Love!
1) my first performance in Tokyo. Or in Japan, rather. It was awesome. I don't know if awesome is even a good enough word, but it was awesome. First of all, here's the website of the place I played at (it's in English): http://www.rubyroomtokyo.com. I was allowed to play for 30 minutes, including set-up time, so more like 25 minutes. I almost didn't go at all because my throat wasn't really feeling much better, but thank goodness I didn't skip out. As soon as I started playing, my voice just felt like it was back to normal. Of course, I only played songs that wouldn't strain my voice too much, but they were good nonetheless. I felt good singing and I didn't feel nearly as nervous as I always do when I perform back home. I guess playing in front of a ton of strangers is way less stressful (for me, at least) than playing in front of your friends. The venue is really cool, very intimate, and everyone there was so nice and friendly. Most of the people actually already knew each other pretty well because some of the same people come back week after week (and from now on, I will be one of them). I spent most of the night talking to this guy Satoshi, who is 24 years old and he gave me his business card which said he is a "music concierge." I asked him what that meant and he said he helps small bands find venues to play in and stuff. So I told him, hey, I'm a small band. He said he'd look into it. He seemed very happy to have made friends with me and he said he couldn't wait to talk to me more next week. Oh yeah, they invited me back to open for some funk band next week. Their keyboard sucked, though, and it had no pedal, haha, so I'm going to try to find one that's decent and not too much money and then I can sell it when I go back home.
2) my first conversation with a Japanese person in which he/she did not tell me that my Japanese was excellent. This is a good thing. Actually a great thing. I've heard it said time and time again that when the Japanese people stop telling you how great your Japanese is, that's when your Japanese is actually REALLY good. And the whole night while I was talking to Satoshi, he never said a thing about it. We just talked as though it was normal that I was speaking Japanese. It was awesome.
3) my first time being approached and propositioned by a prostitute. And in fact, I was approached by not one; not two or three, but five of them on the way home last night. It was crazy. I guess Wednesday is hooker night in Shimbashi. Basically, if you just ignore them they'll leave you alone. It was totally off-putting, though, because they were dressed like normal women so at first I couldn't tell if this was just a normal person who wanted to talk to me or if something else was going on... It didn't take long for me to figure it out, though. One of the women, though, was so persistent with me. She followed me for almost a block just saying like "you want a massage? I'm very cute. It's okay to look at me," etc. and I was so close to pulling out some of the phrases I've never had to use before like "ざけんなよ！" (fuck off!) or "おとといこい！" (basically the same), but she pulled away from me before I got that far. Goodness, though, that was a crazy experience. I guess they thrive there because that's the area where all the businessmen go at night to drink or play pachinko or whatever.
Speaking of pachinko, the thing that always amuses me on my walk to work in the morning is seeing so many people lined up outside of the pachinko parlors, just waiting for them to open. I can't believe it's so popular.
In other good news, Grant Barton and Michael Anderson (two of my best friends from high school) will be coming to Tokyo this weekend! They are spending a a couple weeks traveling around Japan, and they're gonna first spend 5 days here in Tokyo. I'm so excited. I've gotta figure out what to do with them...
Okay, I'm still on such a high from that show last night. haha. It was so fun and amazing. Plus, now I have two more Japanese people in my cell phone's phone book. Must make more friends!
Tokyo Love!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
My new favorite Japanese verb that I actually overheard someone using today:
デニる
pronounced: "deniru"
meaning: to eat at Denny's
I swear, this is actually in my dictionary. They actually just took their word for Denny's: デニーズ,
pronounced "deniizu," and made it into a verb form.
I love this country.
pronounced: "deniru"
meaning: to eat at Denny's
I swear, this is actually in my dictionary. They actually just took their word for Denny's: デニーズ,
pronounced "deniizu," and made it into a verb form.
I love this country.
Part 13: Of mice and Men
wow, they've barely given me anything at all to do today. But there's only an hour and a half left until 5:00. I believe I figured out how to walk between work and home. I made a sweet map for myself using google maps and scissors and tape. So I will walk home today to see how long it takes. It's gonna be hooooottt. It was like 22 degrees yesterday and it jumped up to something like 29 degrees today (this is celcius, of course)! I might lose some serious weight this summer, assuming I do, in fact, walk every day, because it's really hilly in this area. Plus, I won't be eating at Steak 'n Shake every other day; I'll actually be eating some decent food. I have yet to eat at McDonalds or MOS Burger or anything like that, and I'm going to try to avoid it as much as possible. There is a kitchen in the building that I'm staying in, but I'm wary of it because I have yet to see anyone use it, and there are a few dead bugs on the floor. Okay, I probably won't lose a lot of weight, but maybe a little. That would be a nice change from steadily gaining...
One little thing I really like is that EVERYBODY (or at least every male) here carries around handkerchiefs. Because everybody wears a suit every day for work, even in the summer, and they get extremely hot and sweat a lot, so when they sweat, they wipe it off with their handkerchiefs. I was prepared for this and so I brought a 6-pack of hankys with me, but I never knew how much I would really appreciate having it. I'll probably continue carrying one around with me even after I go back to St. Louis. It feels so good in that moment you wipe the sweat from your brow... You get a quick burst of coolness and it's really wonderful. In fact, I forgot to take mine with me to lunch today and I got really upset! I thought to myself "what will I do if I sweat?! How will I cool myself down?!" hehe. As if it was the end of the world.
I wouldn't be so nervous about this show tonight if I could just practice somewhere!! I was hoping maybe they'd let me go in early and practice a little before they open up, so I'm gonna try to do that, at least. I can't even really practice singing anywhere without people thinking I'm crazy.
Did I mention that Ted invited me to play street hockey with him? He plays every Sunday with a group of mostly foreigners, and a few Japanese people. They have a website, too:
http://www.sweatygaijin.com
It looks like fun so I'm definitely gonna play sometime. gaijin means "foreigner," by the way. He said they all suck, so I guess I would fit right in.
Alright, time to wind down the work day and get ready for my trek home. Talk to y'all tomorrow.
Love,
Lawrence
One little thing I really like is that EVERYBODY (or at least every male) here carries around handkerchiefs. Because everybody wears a suit every day for work, even in the summer, and they get extremely hot and sweat a lot, so when they sweat, they wipe it off with their handkerchiefs. I was prepared for this and so I brought a 6-pack of hankys with me, but I never knew how much I would really appreciate having it. I'll probably continue carrying one around with me even after I go back to St. Louis. It feels so good in that moment you wipe the sweat from your brow... You get a quick burst of coolness and it's really wonderful. In fact, I forgot to take mine with me to lunch today and I got really upset! I thought to myself "what will I do if I sweat?! How will I cool myself down?!" hehe. As if it was the end of the world.
I wouldn't be so nervous about this show tonight if I could just practice somewhere!! I was hoping maybe they'd let me go in early and practice a little before they open up, so I'm gonna try to do that, at least. I can't even really practice singing anywhere without people thinking I'm crazy.
Did I mention that Ted invited me to play street hockey with him? He plays every Sunday with a group of mostly foreigners, and a few Japanese people. They have a website, too:
http://www.sweatygaijin.com
It looks like fun so I'm definitely gonna play sometime. gaijin means "foreigner," by the way. He said they all suck, so I guess I would fit right in.
Alright, time to wind down the work day and get ready for my trek home. Talk to y'all tomorrow.
Love,
Lawrence
Mornin'
First order of business: I noticed there was a problem with the pictures and when I clicked the link not all of the pictures came up, but I think I fixed it, so now if you click the link below again, there should be 40 pictures for you to see. If you can't get all 40, please let me know and I'll try to fix it again.
I think I figured out how to walk to work so today I'm going to try walking home and see if I got the route right. Hope I don't get lost! *(^_^)* It's gotta be better than taking those darn trains.
Tonight is the night I'm playing at the club. I'm real nervous, but luckily my throat feels a heck of a lot better today than yesterday. I guess the strange Japanese medicine is doing its thing.
A little info about my bosses:
Ted has been to Missouri only twice. He's actually from Denver, and he came to Japan almost 5 years ago to work as a headhunter for a recruiting firm. Then two years ago he started working for Missouri. I have a shirt of a colorado beer called 90 Schilling that Maggie gave me and it turns out its Ted's favorite beer!
Shino I dont really know much about yet because I havent had much time to talk with him, but the reason he didn't come to work on monday was because he was flying in from Hawaii, where he had done a triathlon. So hes really athletic. He ran the NYC marathon a couple times, too. Apparently every time he goes on a trip to go to an athletic events he ends up meeting a Japanese celebrity randomly. This time he was on the same flight with a Japanese pop star and he sent her a message via flight attendant and she invited him to talk to her. Lucky guy, hehe.
later this week it looks like we'll be going to some golf stores around the area for our client Sassy Swings (Mom, you would probably love this).
They have just started selling their products in a few chain stores here, but their contact is being very unresponsive and unhelpful to them, so we will be going to some stores just to see how well the gloves are selling and which ones are selling better than others, etc. I don't really have any idea how popular golf is in this country, but if it is popular among women, I bet these gloves would sell very well because lord knows how fashionable and cute the women are here.
Okay, I'm going to research some more about this fair I'm going to tomorrow, but I'm sure I will write again later! Sayonara.
Love,
Lawrence
I think I figured out how to walk to work so today I'm going to try walking home and see if I got the route right. Hope I don't get lost! *(^_^)* It's gotta be better than taking those darn trains.
Tonight is the night I'm playing at the club. I'm real nervous, but luckily my throat feels a heck of a lot better today than yesterday. I guess the strange Japanese medicine is doing its thing.
A little info about my bosses:
Ted has been to Missouri only twice. He's actually from Denver, and he came to Japan almost 5 years ago to work as a headhunter for a recruiting firm. Then two years ago he started working for Missouri. I have a shirt of a colorado beer called 90 Schilling that Maggie gave me and it turns out its Ted's favorite beer!
Shino I dont really know much about yet because I havent had much time to talk with him, but the reason he didn't come to work on monday was because he was flying in from Hawaii, where he had done a triathlon. So hes really athletic. He ran the NYC marathon a couple times, too. Apparently every time he goes on a trip to go to an athletic events he ends up meeting a Japanese celebrity randomly. This time he was on the same flight with a Japanese pop star and he sent her a message via flight attendant and she invited him to talk to her. Lucky guy, hehe.
later this week it looks like we'll be going to some golf stores around the area for our client Sassy Swings (Mom, you would probably love this).
They have just started selling their products in a few chain stores here, but their contact is being very unresponsive and unhelpful to them, so we will be going to some stores just to see how well the gloves are selling and which ones are selling better than others, etc. I don't really have any idea how popular golf is in this country, but if it is popular among women, I bet these gloves would sell very well because lord knows how fashionable and cute the women are here.
Okay, I'm going to research some more about this fair I'm going to tomorrow, but I'm sure I will write again later! Sayonara.
Love,
Lawrence
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
continuing a story from earlier
Man, I sure am giving you guys a lot to read today, huh? Sorry. Don't feel obligated to read all of it. Most of it's junk anyways.
I forgot to mention the best part of the pharmacy story: After I got the medicine and all the pharmacist was like "wait a sec" and he disappeared for a moment and came back with this mysterious bag of what he said was tea, but looked like marijuana, and was like "make tea with this and drink it before you go to bed and I guarantee you'll feel better," which didn't exactly help my suspicions that it was, in fact, marijuana. Suffice it to say, I will not be drinking it.
I forgot to mention the best part of the pharmacy story: After I got the medicine and all the pharmacist was like "wait a sec" and he disappeared for a moment and came back with this mysterious bag of what he said was tea, but looked like marijuana, and was like "make tea with this and drink it before you go to bed and I guarantee you'll feel better," which didn't exactly help my suspicions that it was, in fact, marijuana. Suffice it to say, I will not be drinking it.
Can I just say...
THIS is the reason that Nintendo is the best video game company on the planet. Because they are changing the way everybody sees video games with nearly every product they've produced in the past few years. Sure, there have been games designed for education before, but they were never as successful as these new Nintendo "training" games are now. They are really making the non-video game players stop and take a look at what they're doing. I mean, I very literally can't go anywhere in this city without seeing somebody with a Nintendo DS (their newest handheld system, the one described in the above article), young or old. When I say old, I don't mean old old, but still, they've penetrated the adult market in a totally unprecedented way.
Okay, that's enough of my rant on why Nintendo freaking rocks. Ta ta.
Okay, that's enough of my rant on why Nintendo freaking rocks. Ta ta.
Check me out:
So that bit of work I was just handed?... Setting up my own email account for this job. Now I can receive emails at Lawrence@missouri-japan.org
Pretty cool, right? Yeah. It is for work, though, so y'all shouldn't just go crazy sending me emails all willy-nilly to that account, okay? okay.
Pretty cool, right? Yeah. It is for work, though, so y'all shouldn't just go crazy sending me emails all willy-nilly to that account, okay? okay.
Episode 6: In which the jewel thief gets caught by an ususpecting peasant
I don't even know if I have anything very interesting to write about, but I've just got nothing to do. I wonder if they'd let me bring a book tomorrow. I'm glad I switched to this blog over the mass emails because now I can write as much as I want and not feel bad that I'm flooding your inboxes with some boring stories.
It's just past 2:30 pm now. Another 2.5 hours of work and then I'm outta here. I went to lunch at a little Thai place today and got this very spicy dish of something-or-other noodles, and they gave me a bib to use, but I said to myself, "I don't need a bib! I'm a grown man!" Apparently, however, I am not. I got drops of broth all over myself, and now I look like a fool. I'm so embarrassed. I was reading the news online earlier and saw that 3 people were arrested at the Sanja Matsuri on Sunday for getting on top of some mikoshi (the shrines on poles that people carry up and down the streets)! Apparently there were 10 other people who did it, too, whom the police are still trying to find! I don't have any idea how you would go about finding these people after the fact.
Oh, I just met Shino, the other man I'm working with. It put me off balance for a moment because he introduced himself to me in flawless English. But then afterwards he said 「これから日本語で話しましょうか。勉強になりますから。｣ (From now on let's talk in Japanese, so you can learn more). Anyways, he seems very friendly, and I've been listening to him talk on the phone and I'm just blown away by all the honorific speech he uses. It's slightly intimidating. For those of you who don't know (most of you), honorific/polite speech in Japanese is almost like a totally different language. I hope I'll actually get to practice some of that because lord knows I need it.
Man, only 2:51 now. I thought maybe time would pass faster if I wrote some.
Last night I ran out of cold medicine so I went to a pharmacy to try and get some more. I, of course, had no idea what I was looking for so I just told the guy right away that I couldn't read Japanese very well and where could I find some kaze kusuri (cold medicine)? He asked me if I had a fever, I said no, and then he said a whole bunch of gobbledy-gook very very quickly, showed me a box of medicine with a picture of a guy coughing on the front and so I figured that was it, I nodded and paid for it. He kept saying the word seki, which is the word for 'seat' and I couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell me and what the hell it had to do with a seat. Later, of course, I discovered that seki means not only 'seat', but also 'cough.' Of course.
This is actually making work more interesting for me, writing on here, so I hope I'm not boring you all.
2 things I'm just remembering about the Sanja Matsuri on Sunday that I forgot to mention:
1) I saw an albino Japanese guy and really wanted to take his picture, but I figured that would be incredibly rude, so I didn't.
2) Of all the man-thongs I saw that day, my award for best in show goes to the guy who had the "Hello Kitty" thong in all its pink glory.
The Senior Landscape Architect at Jeffrey L. Bruce & Co., one of our clients, is named Bob G. Bushyhead.
Yesterday Ted said I didn't have to come into work until 10 oclock, so I missed most of the rush hour traffic on the train in the morning, but today I had to come in at 9, and my goodness! First of all, I had to wait for 3 trains to go by before I could even fit into one. Then, you get in and you really can't move at all and it's so crowded that no one can hold onto anything, so you're only staying standing by the power of everybody squeezing together. And everybody sways as one massive group as the train moves, it's really quite an experience. Also, walking up this hill to get to our building each day is going to be quite good for me, especially if I figure out how to walk the whole way instead of taking the train. Maybe that will wait until I'm no longer sick, though.
Tonight I would sort of like to go to the Ruby Room to check out the scene before I play there tomorrow night, but on the other hand it might be better for me to get some rest. I'll have to see how I feel later, I guess.
I found out why the area I'm living in is nicknamed karasumori ("Crow's forest"), and I suppose it's obvious, but there are crows everywhere around my place! Big ones.
Hey, alright, I was just given something to actually do! Gotta go. Love y'all. oyasumi (good night)
It's just past 2:30 pm now. Another 2.5 hours of work and then I'm outta here. I went to lunch at a little Thai place today and got this very spicy dish of something-or-other noodles, and they gave me a bib to use, but I said to myself, "I don't need a bib! I'm a grown man!" Apparently, however, I am not. I got drops of broth all over myself, and now I look like a fool. I'm so embarrassed. I was reading the news online earlier and saw that 3 people were arrested at the Sanja Matsuri on Sunday for getting on top of some mikoshi (the shrines on poles that people carry up and down the streets)! Apparently there were 10 other people who did it, too, whom the police are still trying to find! I don't have any idea how you would go about finding these people after the fact.
Oh, I just met Shino, the other man I'm working with. It put me off balance for a moment because he introduced himself to me in flawless English. But then afterwards he said 「これから日本語で話しましょうか。勉強になりますから。｣ (From now on let's talk in Japanese, so you can learn more). Anyways, he seems very friendly, and I've been listening to him talk on the phone and I'm just blown away by all the honorific speech he uses. It's slightly intimidating. For those of you who don't know (most of you), honorific/polite speech in Japanese is almost like a totally different language. I hope I'll actually get to practice some of that because lord knows I need it.
Man, only 2:51 now. I thought maybe time would pass faster if I wrote some.
Last night I ran out of cold medicine so I went to a pharmacy to try and get some more. I, of course, had no idea what I was looking for so I just told the guy right away that I couldn't read Japanese very well and where could I find some kaze kusuri (cold medicine)? He asked me if I had a fever, I said no, and then he said a whole bunch of gobbledy-gook very very quickly, showed me a box of medicine with a picture of a guy coughing on the front and so I figured that was it, I nodded and paid for it. He kept saying the word seki, which is the word for 'seat' and I couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell me and what the hell it had to do with a seat. Later, of course, I discovered that seki means not only 'seat', but also 'cough.' Of course.
This is actually making work more interesting for me, writing on here, so I hope I'm not boring you all.
2 things I'm just remembering about the Sanja Matsuri on Sunday that I forgot to mention:
1) I saw an albino Japanese guy and really wanted to take his picture, but I figured that would be incredibly rude, so I didn't.
2) Of all the man-thongs I saw that day, my award for best in show goes to the guy who had the "Hello Kitty" thong in all its pink glory.
The Senior Landscape Architect at Jeffrey L. Bruce & Co., one of our clients, is named Bob G. Bushyhead.
Yesterday Ted said I didn't have to come into work until 10 oclock, so I missed most of the rush hour traffic on the train in the morning, but today I had to come in at 9, and my goodness! First of all, I had to wait for 3 trains to go by before I could even fit into one. Then, you get in and you really can't move at all and it's so crowded that no one can hold onto anything, so you're only staying standing by the power of everybody squeezing together. And everybody sways as one massive group as the train moves, it's really quite an experience. Also, walking up this hill to get to our building each day is going to be quite good for me, especially if I figure out how to walk the whole way instead of taking the train. Maybe that will wait until I'm no longer sick, though.
Tonight I would sort of like to go to the Ruby Room to check out the scene before I play there tomorrow night, but on the other hand it might be better for me to get some rest. I'll have to see how I feel later, I guess.
I found out why the area I'm living in is nicknamed karasumori ("Crow's forest"), and I suppose it's obvious, but there are crows everywhere around my place! Big ones.
Hey, alright, I was just given something to actually do! Gotta go. Love y'all. oyasumi (good night)
also:
When I answer the phone, I have to say "ミズーリ州政府日本事務所でございます！" which means "This is the Missouri state government's Japan office!"
My job
I suppose I should go into some more detail about what kind of work I'm doing here. Our office is officially a part of the State of Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED, as they call it around here). What our office specifically does is basically act as a liaison between Missouri-based businesses and Japanese businesses. Our clients are all Missouri companies that are looking to export and distribute their product/services to Japan and so they hire us to find businesses here that will import and distribute their product/services.
Yesterday, Ted had me look over some of the more active clients' profiles. There is a company that manufactures and sells auto maintenance machinery (like the heavy equipment you would see at a NTB or gas station; machines to balance tires, etc.). They, apparently, already have business with a company here, but they have recently not been happy with their service, so they are asking us to find some new contacts for them. It's also apparently very confidential, so I am of course posting it all over the internet. hehe.
Another brand new client is Bekemeier's, a company from Branson, Missouri that makes fruit-flavored butter spreads. They sell their stuff all over the country, I guess, and now are looking to go international. Most of the stuff I did yesterday was for Bekemeier's, actually. I researched in a couple Japan Trade Directories to try to find some potential distributors of their products here in Japan. They also sent some samples and they look delicious, but I'm not allowed to try them. :-(
So that's most of what we do. Sometimes, I guess, we also get asked about tourism in Missouri by some of our Japanese contacts, but that's not too often. Ted said most of what I'll be doing these 2 months is "market research," meaning finding out what people are interested in, etc.
There are also Trade fairs/expos fairly often that we go to. For example, there is one starting tomorrow that we will go to that is specifically for environmental products and services. A lot of the vendors there deal with landscaping and stuff like that, and we have a client in Missouri who does a lot of landscape architecture, so we are going to do some market research for them at the fair. woohoo!
Well, that was probably way more information than you needed about my job, but there you go. Now Ted wants me to translate some application form for him. さよなら！sayonara!
Yesterday, Ted had me look over some of the more active clients' profiles. There is a company that manufactures and sells auto maintenance machinery (like the heavy equipment you would see at a NTB or gas station; machines to balance tires, etc.). They, apparently, already have business with a company here, but they have recently not been happy with their service, so they are asking us to find some new contacts for them. It's also apparently very confidential, so I am of course posting it all over the internet. hehe.
Another brand new client is Bekemeier's, a company from Branson, Missouri that makes fruit-flavored butter spreads. They sell their stuff all over the country, I guess, and now are looking to go international. Most of the stuff I did yesterday was for Bekemeier's, actually. I researched in a couple Japan Trade Directories to try to find some potential distributors of their products here in Japan. They also sent some samples and they look delicious, but I'm not allowed to try them. :-(
So that's most of what we do. Sometimes, I guess, we also get asked about tourism in Missouri by some of our Japanese contacts, but that's not too often. Ted said most of what I'll be doing these 2 months is "market research," meaning finding out what people are interested in, etc.
There are also Trade fairs/expos fairly often that we go to. For example, there is one starting tomorrow that we will go to that is specifically for environmental products and services. A lot of the vendors there deal with landscaping and stuff like that, and we have a client in Missouri who does a lot of landscape architecture, so we are going to do some market research for them at the fair. woohoo!
Well, that was probably way more information than you needed about my job, but there you go. Now Ted wants me to translate some application form for him. さよなら！sayonara!
Welcome! ようこそ！
Alright, work's barely started and I already set myself up a new blog. I think this one will work much better, plus this blogging host is tied to my google account, so that's cool. Alright. Time to get to work. If I get bored later, maybe I'll write some more. Also, be sure to leave comments, people! Not necessarily right now, but in the future. I love hearing from everybody. Thanks!
Love,
Lawrence
Love,
Lawrence
Just reposting my entry in the other blog from this morning...
I'm writing from my bed right now. It's 6:22 AM and I've been wide awake since about 5... Damn jet lag.
Well, I had my first day of work! It was cool, I've never had my own desk in an office before. It makes me feel powerful. Hehe. Ted told me what station to go to and he met me at the station in the morning to take me to our building. The walk from the station is about 10 minutes, but Ted told me that if I could figure out the route, it's only about a 15-minute walk from where I'm living to our office building, so I really need to figure that out soon because I think that would actually shorten my commute time and I wouldn't have to deal with the rush hour trains (totally worth it; you can't move at all in those trains, they're so packed; in fact, at the bigger train stations, they actually have attendants there at rush hour to just push people onto the train so it gets as packed as possible). Our building is in a really nice area, and it's also very close to the US embassy. The building's at the top of a hill and the street winds back and forth and is lined with sakura (cherry-blossom) trees. They're not in bloom now, of course, but it's still very pretty even without the flowers. There was a very cute cat sitting outside the entrance to our building and Ted said it was the building's cat. I thought he was joking, but there was actually a bed for her right around the corner, next to the door. Right inside the door, there is a very cute receptionist who deals with the mail and all kinds of stuff. Ted said if I ever needed to mail a package I could just give it to her and she would take care of it for me. Her other job is to unlock the door to the elevator so I can get up to my office on the 3rd floor. The office isn't too big, but it's more than enough room for 3 people, and we've got a mini-kitchen and bathroom, too. Work itself was not too exciting. I don't know if it was normal or not, but they didn't really have much for me to do. I think throughout the whole day I did maybe 2 hours worth of work, and I kept asking if there was anything else I could do, but Ted just kept saying "Not right now." Shino had the day off yesterday, so I didn't get to meet him, but he'll be in today. I'm excited to meet him because I don't want to only speak English all the time at work.
My Japanese has gotten way better since last time I was in Japan. I feel like it's a huge difference. I'll find myself walking down the street and thinking in Japanese, which is bizarre and awesome at the same time.
For lunch Ted took me to a place called "Coco" something. It's a curry restaurant chain, and their curry is absurdly spicy for Japanese curry. Usually you can get like the spiciest curry the Japanese offer and it's no problem. They're very ama-guchi here (means "sweet-mouthed"). But at the Coco place, they have levels 0 through 10 of spiciness and Ted got level 2. That made me suspicious since he had told me the night before, as he was eating kim-chi, that he loved spicy food. So I went for level 1. I could barely handle it. I took one bite and almost immediately started sweating. I read on the menu that they actually don't allow you to eat levels 6 through 10 until you've proven yourself and eaten a whole plate of level 5. And from there you have to just go up one step at a time. One of my classmates when I studied abroad here tried to get to level 10, but I don't think he was able to get to it before we returned to the US.
Speaking of eating Kim-chi with Ted, I forgot to tell you about that evening. It turned out Ted's friend who was going to have people over was busy that night, so it was just me and Ted. We went to a small new bar near his apartment and had a few drinks, and then went to eat some food along this small alleyway that was lined with little yakitori places. Yakitori means grilled chicken. They cook it on a stick and at most places you can get just about any part of the chicken imaginable, so it's best to not get an English menu for fear you won't want to eat anything. Anyways, we got some chicken, which was great, some squid, which was okay, and some octopus, which was... chewy...
It was a great experience, though. Really fun. And at small places like that, where you're sitting at a table with like 4 other groups of people, everyone tends to be really drunk and really friendly, so we had a very good time.
Alright, It's about time for me to get ready for work! Signing off...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
From May 20th, posted here for prosperity
Tonight I'm going to meet Ted at his place for some drinks with some of his friends. I'll be leaving in a few minutes so that I can catch the end of the Sanja Matsuri before going to his place. But let me tell you what I've been up to since I wrote yesterday...
Ted apologized profusely that he would have to leave me on my own on my first night in Tokyo, but he gave me plenty of ideas of things to do and places to go. In the end, I ended up just exploring the area I'm living in. Ted had told me it was one of his favorite areas of Tokyo and now I know why. It's got a heck of a lot of character, and not a lot of foreigners. Last night I walked along the train tracks for almost a half an hour in one direction, and it is just littered with tiny little bars, which Ted tells me is fantastic during the week because that's where all the businessmen go after work. I ended up getting a couple drinks at a English-style pub called "the Hub," which Ted had also told me about earlier. He recommended it because it's one of the most foreigner-friendly bars that doesn't actually get a lot of foreigners coming in. I didn't really know what to expect, it being the first time I've ever gone to a bar by myself, and it turned out a bit differently than I expected. There are no places to sit right up at the actual bar. Everyone sits at tables, but you have to go up to the bar and order your food/drinks and they bring it to your table. So I got a table for one (sad, I know) and ordered some edamame and a beer and waited. I got there around 10-ish and it wasn't very crowded when I got there, but gradually more and more people came. Finally these 2 cute girls who looked about my age sat down at the table right next to me. I didn't say anything to them for a while (you all know I'm shy), but then after a creepy guy came up to them and tried to hit on them I sort of made fun of him and they were impressed with my Japanese and it was all good after that. Turned out they were, in fact, exactly my same age and they had just graduated college where both of them had majored in ENGLISH. what a coincidence *wink wink.* Anyways, I ended up talking to them for an hour or so and then they apologized that they had to leave so they wouldn't miss the last train home (something I didn't have to worry about having walked there), and I may never see them again cuz i'm really unskilled at nampa (the japanese word for 'picking up girls') and didn't get their numbers or anything. But that's not important, the important thing is it was a boost to my confidence and I had a good time.
Okay, this is ending up being longer than I expected...
Today I woke up at 4 AM (damn jet lag), and just stayed in my room until about 6:30, when I went up north on the Ginza line to Asakusa Shrine, where they were having the Sanja Matsuri. I was expecting something big, but nothing could have prepared me for the size of this event. They had blocked off tons of streets for this 3-day festival and every bit of it was packed. For some of the time, I couldn't even move, the crowd was so thick. Also, it turned out Sanja Matsuri was mostly just an excuse for all the Japanese men to walk around in man-thongs. Just joking. But seriously, I saw way too much buttocks today. The only buttocks that was actually awesome as heck to see was that of the Yakuza (the Japanese mob), who are famous for their full-body or near-full-body tattoos. It turns out the Sanja matsuri is the only time of year that the police allow the yakuza to display their tattoos publicly without penalty (I don't really know how they could stop them any other time of year, but oh well), so they take full advantage by walking around in nothing but their thongs for all to see. Many pictures to come.
Okay, I really should be going, but I wanted to mention one more thing before I go and that is I will be performing at the Ruby Room in Shibuya this Wednesday! I found out they have open mics on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I called the man in charge and asked if they had a piano/keyboard I can use and he said yes, so I secured my place on Wednesday night's show at 9 PM!!! I only hope this cough clears up before then.... *(^_^)* <--- it's a smiley face. keep looking, you'll see it. Anyhow, if all goes well this could hopefully become a regular thing for me. Fingers crossed!
Love,
Roorensu-san
Ted apologized profusely that he would have to leave me on my own on my first night in Tokyo, but he gave me plenty of ideas of things to do and places to go. In the end, I ended up just exploring the area I'm living in. Ted had told me it was one of his favorite areas of Tokyo and now I know why. It's got a heck of a lot of character, and not a lot of foreigners. Last night I walked along the train tracks for almost a half an hour in one direction, and it is just littered with tiny little bars, which Ted tells me is fantastic during the week because that's where all the businessmen go after work. I ended up getting a couple drinks at a English-style pub called "the Hub," which Ted had also told me about earlier. He recommended it because it's one of the most foreigner-friendly bars that doesn't actually get a lot of foreigners coming in. I didn't really know what to expect, it being the first time I've ever gone to a bar by myself, and it turned out a bit differently than I expected. There are no places to sit right up at the actual bar. Everyone sits at tables, but you have to go up to the bar and order your food/drinks and they bring it to your table. So I got a table for one (sad, I know) and ordered some edamame and a beer and waited. I got there around 10-ish and it wasn't very crowded when I got there, but gradually more and more people came. Finally these 2 cute girls who looked about my age sat down at the table right next to me. I didn't say anything to them for a while (you all know I'm shy), but then after a creepy guy came up to them and tried to hit on them I sort of made fun of him and they were impressed with my Japanese and it was all good after that. Turned out they were, in fact, exactly my same age and they had just graduated college where both of them had majored in ENGLISH. what a coincidence *wink wink.* Anyways, I ended up talking to them for an hour or so and then they apologized that they had to leave so they wouldn't miss the last train home (something I didn't have to worry about having walked there), and I may never see them again cuz i'm really unskilled at nampa (the japanese word for 'picking up girls') and didn't get their numbers or anything. But that's not important, the important thing is it was a boost to my confidence and I had a good time.
Okay, this is ending up being longer than I expected...
Today I woke up at 4 AM (damn jet lag), and just stayed in my room until about 6:30, when I went up north on the Ginza line to Asakusa Shrine, where they were having the Sanja Matsuri. I was expecting something big, but nothing could have prepared me for the size of this event. They had blocked off tons of streets for this 3-day festival and every bit of it was packed. For some of the time, I couldn't even move, the crowd was so thick. Also, it turned out Sanja Matsuri was mostly just an excuse for all the Japanese men to walk around in man-thongs. Just joking. But seriously, I saw way too much buttocks today. The only buttocks that was actually awesome as heck to see was that of the Yakuza (the Japanese mob), who are famous for their full-body or near-full-body tattoos. It turns out the Sanja matsuri is the only time of year that the police allow the yakuza to display their tattoos publicly without penalty (I don't really know how they could stop them any other time of year, but oh well), so they take full advantage by walking around in nothing but their thongs for all to see. Many pictures to come.
Okay, I really should be going, but I wanted to mention one more thing before I go and that is I will be performing at the Ruby Room in Shibuya this Wednesday! I found out they have open mics on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and I called the man in charge and asked if they had a piano/keyboard I can use and he said yes, so I secured my place on Wednesday night's show at 9 PM!!! I only hope this cough clears up before then.... *(^_^)* <--- it's a smiley face. keep looking, you'll see it. Anyhow, if all goes well this could hopefully become a regular thing for me. Fingers crossed!
Love,
Roorensu-san