Gorgeous Train Crash

Hard to resist these clips. I almost feel uncomfortable watching in my own private apartment and yet curiosity made me prevail. This is not the first time that Larry King has supposedly crossed the line. Another time was when he interviewed a plastic surgeon for Kanye West's mother just after she passed away, and that doctor had a similar outburst while on the air. Makes me think, why do these people go on the air in the first place? Isn't it abundantly clear to everyone that Larry will ask questions that people are most curious about? If a major topic is still a sore spot, why go on the air at all?



wOw... this link was discontinued! Interesting. Prejean walked off Larry King Live in this clip when he asked her about the beauty pageant lawsuit in which she claims she was nationally dethroned for her religious views. But considering she was going on the air with the biggest talker on TV, what made her think this topic wouldn't come up?

Article 9

This is a topic that eventually creeps into conversation with everyone in Japan at some point. I've just been given the challenge by a student to prepare to discuss Article 9 in the Japanese Constitution, which states "Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes". It also mentions at the end of this article "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained".

My challenger is an affluent businessman here in Osaka.

From the surface of this article, it sounds quite obvious that war is bad, and with what happened in World War II it was reasonable for that time. However in this new era, the social, economical, political and international relations with Japan and the rest of the world is quite different. Should the Constitution be amended to reflect those changes? Even among Japanese this issue is highly controversial. There's a strong sentiment that they should maintain positive relations with the United States as well as other countries, and that they don't want to get involved in unnecessary wars.

But on the other hand, what about national pride? The Japanese spirit? Having a military provides youth an opportunity to serve their country, to train hard physically and mentally to foster their spirit. An opportunity for all youths regardless of their academic or economic background to have an honorable career. When I think back to my days of living in the United States, I recall many of my college friends enlisting in the U.S. Army for various reasons, and for them it was a necessary move in their lives to jump-start more exciting careers. Might also the Japanese youth strongly benefit from that choice?

One thing though, that perhaps Japanese overlook, is what having a Japanese military would do to their economy. It's not cheap to feed, house, clothe and train fighters. Then there's the latest technology in equipment, weapons, ships, planes, helicopters, tanks, .... and sunglasses. All military personnel get a pair the latest sunglasses, and those aren't cheap. Truth is, Japanese have greatly benefitted from not having to incur these costs on themselves and have been able to use more of their tax money on improving their society. Even though today's state of National Health and Pension funds as well as the local tax funds are greatly strained by the aging population and severe mismanagement, think what state it would be in if there had been a Japanese military.

Update with Castaway

Dear faithful readers, I have no day off until the end of February. So I might be gone from this blog for awhile. Eat, sleep, Sports Festival. Eat, sleep, act as MC for 50 children at a birthday party. Eat, sleep, first Christmas show rehearsal. Eat, sleep, make preparations for Halloween party.

Le sigh.

[heart]

Castaway

Origin of the "You Lie!" Plan

Unfortunately this link died, but it was funny while it lasted.

Jimmy Carter's Take on Protesters of the Healthcare Bill

What's Happening Over There?!

As I try to keep up with the United States through online news clips I find it hard to believe that what I see is the same country. So much anger in all directions along with so much ignorance and misinformation on both sides of the aisle. Naturally healthcare is a major concern for all Americans in the United States as it eats up a good portion of our earnings and often times makes small businesses go bankrupt. You don't have to dig deep to find raw anger and bitterness. But just because people are passionately angry on this issue doesn't automatically qualify them to be able to judge what is best.

These nationwide town hall meetings were, though noble in aim, a recipe for disaster. The sad truth is that the average citizen in any given country isn't an expert. In a perfect world it would be wonderful to hear everyone's say, but in the real world that is the most inefficient way of going about major legislation with a supposed tight deadline. Had the people in these town hall meetings been experts in the fields concerned I think the majority would have had more respect and peace of mind. I would have liked to have seen members of the Senate interview a panel of doctors and hospital management as well as the executives from the major insurance companies. If both the Republicans and the Democrats could both come up with an objective that everyone agreed upon after obtaining information from these medical experts and health insurance execs, it would have made the plan for achieving those objectives much clearer and probably would have garnered more support.

As it is now it seems that everyone has a different idea about what the problem with healthcare is. Feels like we are rushing too fast for the prescription before finding the correct diagnosis.

Dr. Death

Last Friday afternoon I saw an ear, nose, throat doctor in the Shinsaibashi area here in Osaka. Luckily my cold this time around wasn't as severe as the ones I had been having when I first started working at the international preschool last February. As I was sitting in the waiting room I read the title of a comic book series the doctor had on his book shelf, "Black Jack, Yoroshiku". I praised myself royally for tackling the Japanese language these past six years. How cool it is to finally be able to read and understand the things around me! Sigh. Aren't I spec...

Hai, dozo! chimed the nurse.

I stood up and entered the examination room, and explained to the doctor that I felt I had already gotten better but I just wanted to make sure since I would have to wait another two weeks to see him again. Unless I wanted to lose loads of money by calling in sick. That's the tricky thing about preschool. The job itself is a health hazard, but you're financially punished even when you do get genuinely sick. Though this situation is loads better than most English-teaching jobs here in Japan so I can't complain too much. I am actually very grateful. But it's tough.

He gave me some light painkillers and antibiotics just in case it might worsen over the weekend or this next week as it had many times in the past. "Ok, you're finished," he said in Japanese. The nurse took me over to the next room where I inhaled medicine through my nostrils and then through my mouth, three minutes each round. As I held the inhaler device up to my nose I looked straight ahead at the books on the shelf just in front of me. One title had caught my attention before 「うらやましい死に方」 because it combined the most unlikely words you'd ever might expect to be paired together. うらやましい = jealous, 死に方= way of dying. That's a very literal translation and would probably be expressed a little differently had this been a movie subtitle. I asked the nurse, "what the heck is this book about?" and she replied she didn't know.

I looked over the sides of the other volumes and noticed that on every shelf almost every single title included the kanji 死 shi death.

Recent Healthcare Debate

Oh this blinds my own eyes! What was once a familiar sight now makes my skin crawl. It's not so much the issue itself as it is the overwhelming lack of propriety and insight. I'm afraid this girl might represent the masses in today's America.

I hope I'm wrong.

What an Offer!

Sotomayor is Sworn In

Sotomayor Takes Oath

Had a Dream Last Night...

It's early on a Sunday morning, a steady rain is pummeling the streets. And I lay here awake still thinking about my dream.

My dream began with Mr. L. He's our Lead Teacher. He gathered us together just before we were finished for the day to explain something important, only he never got around to saying what that important thing was. He was talking and talking and talking while all of us had one foot in an elevator to secure it for us. I resigned to the fact that it might take a while and put down my pencil and notebook. I stepped outside the elevator only to find that Mr. L had finished. I turned around and saw the elevator shoot up fast to the top floor along with my pencil and notebook on top of the elevator car. I rushed to press the button to go down but other people on different floors managed to get priority over me. Then it finally came and my pencil and notebook were gone.

We step outside, grateful that the meeting was finally over and yet we had no idea what it was about. Ahead to the left was a coffee shop that I felt I had been to many times before. I turn to my friend on my left and ask him if he'd like some coffee, even though I didn't actually want any. I knew it was expensive. He said yes and I went along with him to get some and sit outside by some tall trees. At the table my friend somehow vanished and I found myself sitting at the table with two friends I had gone to college with many years ago. I looked around and found myself to be in that same college town. "You know, " Mr. R/T starts, "the best place for biscuits and honey is down this street." "Here?" I asked and looked around. "No, no lady," said the other man. "Not here. Down the street that-a-way and over a few blocks to the right." "Yes," the other man agreed. "The best biscuits and honey."

Behind me was a vegetable cart with a sign that made me laugh, but I can't recall now what it said. I remember the vegetables all looked too scary to eat. Just as I was about to make a remark on that a guy behind me said, "Honey, we should get one of those watermelons." I looked at the watermelons and thought, "well, it's hard to mess that up. With the hard shell and all it must be safe to eat." The owner of this vegetable and fruit cart was wearing a theatrical mask that covered the top half of his face, and he was holding in his hands a mask for a bull. But then almost immediately the bull became a real bull, and people were getting closer to admire it. "Get back!" I shouted. "It's a real bull!" Nobody moved. I shouted again and started to run, and the bull took interest in me and chased me down through some trees in a pasture. I looked behind me and he then seemed like a completely different bull now, much smaller than before. Other people grasped the situation and started running slowly in different directions. The bull was closing in on me and charging violently with its horns. "Ok, I know I'll be safe now." I spread my arms and flew, watching the bull gain speed and thrust his way past where I used to be.

Best Way to Meet a New Client

I was on the Midosuji subway line when the train stops at a station that is along the way to my destination here in Osaka. My mind was busy with thoughts about the karate performance show I was going to do with many other people at someone's wedding. How we all started practicing under such short notice and how perfect the timing had to be and such. The doors open and many people get off. The train sits there for a long time and I sit there thinking. And thinking.

「降りなさい！」　　"Get off the train!"

Just moments before the doors shut I scramble off the train in my dress for the wedding and with my big bag full of karate gear. The lights inside go out and silently the train moves through the dark tunnel with empty cars. I kindly thank the Japanese man for saving me from getting sent to God knows where and talk to him in Japanese until the next train comes. He gives me his card.

Day Off

For those aspiring to have their own businesses or work on private projects while living in Japan, working at a real school is the way to go! It's practically the only chance we get at having these nice paid holidays that allow us to build up the client base or do the basic errands we need. And luckily, some longer holidays are just around the corner. Slowly but surely I'm gaining momentum...

Business Lunch...

Tonight I met a fellow American at a Mexican restaurant in Shinsaibashi. I first met him a week ago just after one of my sensei's wedding party at a bar just down the hall from the reception. He is very charismatic and gifted at motivational speaking, but the scary part is, no matter what he's talking about he creates a powerful effect on his audience. If he read the ingredients off a macaroni noodle package some people would be moved to tears. He is that good.

What do you say to a fellow foreign national who has lived in Japan for thirteen years but can't muster even the most basic phrases in Japanese? What do you say to a person who is so intense and on fire about getting people connected to English when he can't do the same himself in Japanese? What do you say to a person who hasn't put in the thought or time to familiarize oneself with Japanese law and taxes when they claim to have a lot of business experience in Japan?

He has a beautiful website. Lots of photos. Lots of color. Smiling happy faces perfectly posed. He warmly greats people he just meets in English. But, considering this restaurant has been a familiar haunt for him for at least a couple of years, he only speaks English to the staff and the owner. Zero Japanese. With strong Western mannerisms. What a clash. His business of two years, eleven students.

I'm starting to grow weary of Westerners. More and more I'm discovering my own island.