Coffee-Flavored Coffee

Sapporo Pride

September 20th, 2007

Peacock! Hello, peeps!

I know many of you have been waiting for me to break Internet silence and commence with the stories about Japan. Well, I got started two weeks ago and then my server crashed. I have yet to be able to restore the ability to post to the blog that Electra and I have together, but this blog is up! So even if I don’t have the time to write a lot of stories, I can start posting pictures and showing my Sapporo pride.

It’s pretty late at night for me. But tomorrow is Friday and that means I won’t be in front of this computer again, healthy enough to manipulate words, for a couple days. So here’s a few pics that I really like to whet your appetite. More to come this weekend!

My friend Mike at karaoke and at the pride parade. I’m collecting pics from my new friends here to create a Cast of Characters for y’all.

sankumi

The awesome kids of ichinense (“first year” [7th grade]) sankumi (“class #3″)

High Coffee Tech!

Advanced Japanese coffee technology!

Kuma!

Cats!

(This one’s name is Kuma, which means “bear”)

Awesome guitarist

Night life!

We’re having a good time. I’m finally hitting the culture-shock/homesick wall as is at least one other JET here in Sapporo. But that’s good. It’s mean I can get it over with now.

I have to leave my base school after next week and won’t be back until next January. It makes me sad because I’ve developed relationships with the teachers and students there and really love it. I do get to start visiting elementary schools next month, though. Japanese kids are cuuuute!

Posted in Your Sainted Mother | 4 Comments »

You Can’t Make A Statement Without Implying Values

July 20th, 2007

Here are two proverbs that have been coming up in my life recently. Why not test yourself and see if you can guess what culture each proverb comes from.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

Okay, the answers are pretty obvious. The first proverb is American (I believe, or at least Western) and the second is Japanese. Elsewhere in Asia they also say “The quacking duck gets shot.”

One thing Electra pointed out is that if you try to strip away the value statements, all these proverbs can say the same thing: “When you take distinctive action, you will attract attention.” I.e. if you make a noise that others are not making or if you position yourself away from other people then you will be noticed. The actual proverbs are then based on cultural ideas of what it means to attract attention.

The Americans are quick to think that one’s needs can’t be met by others unless one makes them known. So we say “Speak up! Let us know what you need!” And also “If you don’t speak up, we can’t be held responsible when you don’t get what you need.” The East Asian cultures are quick to realize that calling attention to yourself or doing something that is out of the routine is likely to attract corrective action. So they say “If you blend in and avoid making waves then you’ll live peacefully.” They also say “If you do make waves then it’s your fault when we punish you.”

Posted in Psychology, Your Sainted Mother | No Comments »

Things That Scare Your Wife and Mother

July 10th, 2007

Have you ever wondered what happens if you stick your hand in the path a running ceiling fan? I know I often have. It’s one of the morbid fascinations I’ve secretly harbored and have never had any interest in testing.

The answer: nothing much. Maybe a few bruises. *phew*

Posted in Your Sainted Mother | No Comments »

Really Really

June 22nd, 2007

Things That Make English Hard to Learn #1:

“Didn’t Really” vs. “Really Didn’t”

Switch the word order to increase emphasis. Bug or feature?

Posted in Things That Make English Hard to Learn | No Comments »

Small Birds Hop

June 1st, 2007

When small birds, like brownbirds, hop around on the ground, they are so very cute.

Larger birds, like ravens, are not.

Posted in Your Sainted Mother | 1 Comment »

Poor Poor Poe Poe

May 26th, 2007

I realized today that I haven’t listened to Poe in something like 3 years. That was a severe oversight. I really like Poe and am happily listening to Hello right now.

It occurred to me before that she must have a history of abusive boyfriends — or at least one really bad one. But now, 3 years later, I can realize it in that counselor-y¹ way.

A lot of things sound different than they did 3 years ago, in fact.

I find myself wanting to hand the lyrics from Trigger Happy Jack (“You can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being”) to some of my clients [↩]

Posted in Mental Health, Your Sainted Mother | 1 Comment »

Whoa There!

May 22nd, 2007

I just got an email from MoveOn, like I do.

The gist of the message is a request for members to support a bill currently sitting in front of Congress that would make it a federal crime to price gouge for gasoline. The punishment would be up to 10 years in prison. Hmm…

I know gas is expensive. I know it effects all Americans heavily when gas costs a lot. I know that oil interests are utilizing the current political climate to price gouge. But come on. Make that specific thing a federal crime with significant prison time? That’s going too far and is certainly a slippery slope issue.

I like MoveOn. But sometimes it isn’t the best idea to support something just because it’s a chance to stick it to the Republicans.

Personally, I like to think systemically about this one. Maybe if gas does top $4 then that’s one more price point in the direction of convincing even the most grossly consumerist, SUV-driving Americans that maybe it’d be a good idea to work towards more sustainable energy practices.

Posted in Self-Righteous Punditry, Stuff FOX News Is Unlikely To Talk About | No Comments »

Sapporo ni ikimas!

May 21st, 2007

Some interesting facts about Sapporo, Japan:

It’s cold. Cold is not hot, unlike the rest of Japan.
It has an extensive and useful system of mass transit.
They make beer there!
The City of Sapporo is 60% forest.
My wife will be stationed there next year with the JET program.
I will be, too!
Yay!!!!

Yay!!!!

Posted in Your Sainted Mother | 1 Comment »

It’s Okay

May 20th, 2007

I’ve been thinking about the ways people behave around apologies. Sometimes folks don’t really know how to express themselves well when an “I’m sorry” situation arises.

Consider the following scenario:

Sam and Sally are housemates. Sally really loves curry. Suffice to say that there is a convincing reason to treat Sally’s curry as sacred.

Sally leaves her leftover curry in the fridge one night. Sam comes home after an evening of heavy drinking, finds the curry, and scarfs it.

The next morning, Sally opens the fridge and is furious. She doesn’t say anything, though, because her general approach to conflict is to be passive-aggressive. Sam wakes up (several hours) later and comes into the kitchen, opens the fridge, and realizes with a smack to the forehead that he ate Sally’s curry and she’s going to be very unhappy about that.

Sam goes to his silently fuming housemate and apologizes. What is Sally’s response?

“It’s okay,” she says.

This doesn’t sound right to me.

Yes, Sam is doing good by noting that he has wronged his housemate and taking the initiative to apologize. However, that doesn’t make the original act “okay.” It may repair the rift in his relationship with Sally and allow them to move forward without hard feelings, but simply declaring everything to be “okay” is sweeping it under the rug. It certainly doesn’t do anything to help Sam understand how much he has hurt his roommate.

I think I don’t like the phrase “It’s okay” as a response to apologies unless it really is okay. The phrase should be reserved for moments when someone is apologizing unnecessarily — like if they accidentally bump into you.

In the scenario above, it seems that Sally would get more mileage out of saying something like “Thank you for apologizing, it makes me feel better about this whole thing.” That way she smooths over the problem between her and Sam but without creating the impression that Sam’s behavior wasn’t actually hurtful.

Posted in Self-Righteous Punditry, Your Sainted Mother | No Comments »

Bugs Are Gross

May 16th, 2007

It is my observation that insects in general, and flies in particular, find no problems in the fact that they are icky.

This is why they must be stopped.