Crazy Japanese

Japanese people work a lot. I go to school for about 8 hours everyday, which is less time than any other student or teacher, with the possible exception of some "special" students. There are also two assistant teachers who possibly spend less time at school than me in a given week (say, 35 instead of my 40 hours) but they are considered "part time." I don't know what time people start to arrive, but I'm fairly certain some bukatsus (clubs) start at 6 or 630 in the morning. They will likely then continue through 5 or 6 in the evening. I know lots of teachers must stay later than that for various preparations or cleaning or whatnot. I'm told that even in America the 35-40 hour work week is increasingly becoming unattainable, but a part of me still thinks "this is ridiculous."
But, all that said, the Japanese do have a multitude of public holidays where basically noone works. I forget exactly how many, but it basically averages to one a month, which allows for a pleasant three day weekend with some frequency. And this past week was the mother of them all, a grouping of public holidays affectionately refered to as "Golden Week." Me and Ambs elected to not go crazy this time around, for want of money/time/energy/etc., but she has had a slew of Aussie mates coming in and out these past weeks. This has more than kept her busy, and I've been able to tag along and countless times think to myself "wow Aussies talk so funny." And more importantly than that, I've had a REALLY fun time figuring out how much of what Amber says is just "Aussie" (as she claims it is) and how much of it is just Amber. I won't bother with all the details, but one specific moment comes to mind:
Amber says that she does trivia back home in her favorite bars in Melbourne. She says its a fun way to be with friends and win free beer. Perfectly reasonable I suppose, but I had to tell her that no young person in America would admit to frequenting trivia nights at the local bar. I can't help but associate trivia at a bar with the word "local" (ie old-fashioned hillbilly). And this is coming from someone who's lived in Dallas, Pennsylvania for over a decade. Amber reluctantly accepts that perception in AMERICA, but insists its different in Australia. SO, one of the first questions I ask her friend Daniel, her fellow melbournian, goes "could a young person in Melbourne legitimately say they go to trivia for fun?" Daniel quickly and easily responded "no." While I've endlessly teased Amber for this, one could also think of it as a victory for Australia in my eyes. I mean a bunch of people who say "reckon" and go to trivia for fun doesn't really evoke the perception of a cosmopolitan city in my mind, despite Amber's persistence. But Daniel has put my mind to rest in favor of Melbourne, though perhaps has made me question a specific few inhabitants...
Of Course I never asked her friend Ben, whom I met this past week. But she warned me that they frequently did trivia together, and well, I already got the answer I wanted.

My life in the mean time consists of struggling to learn this insanely difficult language, failing to learn this insanely difficult language, and then getting frustrating that I'm struggling, and then failing to learn this insanely difficult language. Also, thinking and worrying about next year, and the ever looming question.. dou shiyou... (what to do...). Though I do think that regardless of the specifics I will be in America between mid July and mid August, and would then like to continue some work and study here, at least for a little bit. Where and how are a little up in the air, but sticking around here is also an option. I do wonder if being closer to a city and more young people might make life a little more enjoyable and maybe even make learning Japanese easier. All questions to ponder...

Anyway, pictures are better than words sometimes:

Crappy rockers adorn Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, but their teenage fans happily do their weird dance/headbang in unison.

I've put pictures of the rockabillies up before, but this was the first time I saw the rockabilly chicks in their betty outfits. As per usual, noone can really dance very well.
However, Paul and Daniel can look good in front of their ridiculous car, which appears to be an authentic old Cadillac.
I stole this picture from Amber, but I really like it. Everyone looks appropriately ridiculous.
This is Tokyo trip #2. This is Ben at a cafe near Inokashira park in Kichijoji, Tokyo. I really like this park, and this a pretty nice cafe. The waitress freaked out as we entered, and was unable to move when Amber answered how many of us there were (3). She must've freaked out simply because foreigners were talking to her, which is not such a common reaction these days, especially in Tokyo. Amber says she's received her fair share of foreigner freak outs in her years here though.
This old guy in the park whips out American folk and blues songs in an indecipherably thick Japanese accent. But hey, points for trying. That adorable kid in the background paid more attention to him than most of the park goers.
That goldfish's eyes... were indescribably disgusting.
Here are some ads in a Tokyo rail station. Just in case you didn't know Japan was silly and was really into animated girls and huge giant robot monsters.

That's all for now. Check out my flickr page again, I added more pictures of the girls' trip to Japan from way back when. I'll eventually give in and pay the fee to put up more pictures, but only a few for now.