By Jason, on May 6th, 2012
Well, the Gilded Week has now come to an end, and we get to all go back to our normal lives bright and early tomorrow morning. We also had Cinco de Mayo thrown in for good measure, which reminded me that I really need to make Mexican food again sometime soon (like the awesome party I threw last year with some of my coworkers at the time.. need to find people in the area who have also love tacos.)
So, how’d it go? Well, as I’m pretty sure you all already know, I’m just not terribly exciting. Especially when the entire country goes on vacation, accommodations and public transit become pricey, and everywhere you go is crowded. No, I’d rather just take a vacation later in the year when everyone else is toiling away at work and school.
Me? I went to work! And cleaned my apartment! And ran errands! Of course, as I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion, I really have no idea what to do with free time. I like having stuff to do and being busy, so I try to find something good and productive to fill my time when I’m off. I also was able to finish off that.. umm.. interesting book on writing/translating Japanese contracts. It took a lot of coffee at the local doughnut shop, but I got through it. So yay for that!
It wasn’t all pathetic and boring, however. I am, whether you believe it or not, human! I met with an ex high school student of mine for lunch on Thursday (she’s in university now and studying Chinese. You know.. despite all that English we taught) and then went out to afternoon tea with an ex student of mine from my conversation classes (she was in Tokyo to visit her grandchildren.) It was nice to have a chance to catch up with people and to see how they’ve been growing up (in the case of the former) and how life has changed in my old adoptive ‘hometown’ (in the case of the latter.) Apparently one of my other adult students found a boyfriend, got married, and is now pregnant.. all in the 7 months I’ve been gone! Impressive.
And on a semi-related note.. that original sentence was written as “…and got pregnant” but after reading it several times, I just can’t shake the weird feeling that comes up from saying someone got pregnant. It gives the impression that either it was something that one was actively trying for or, a bit more negatively, sounds like one disapproves of it. I wonder if that’s just me, or inherent in the way we use it. Anyway, yeah.. had to change that.
What else? Not a whole lot going on! Looks like it’s gonna be getting a bit busy here and on through the summer for various reasons (then again, I always say it’s busy nowadays, so I guess nothing’s changed!), but I’m trying to see if I can swing a trip to Disneyland at some point later this month. Why? Dunno! But I went to Disney Sea last year in May, so it seems like something I should do. The only problem is that I still need to recruit someone for this endeavor, since it’s just kinda pathetic to go to Disneyland by yourself. Haven’t been there in 8 years, so it can’t hurt.
That’s all I’ve got for now.. I should get on with the rest of my Sunday and run the last remaining errands I’ve got and get ready for the rest of the week.
Later!
By Jason, on April 25th, 2012
I’d say something about being “really busy lately”, but I’m pretty sure that it’s become a nearly constant refrain in my e-mails and phone calls (as well as here). It’s not really worth mentioning anymore, is it? My schedule seems to be clearing up for the near future, anyway, so it’s not so bad. In fact, next week is the not-quite-a-week-long-holiday called “Golden Week”!
What is Golden Week, you so rightly ask? That is a wonderful question! It’s basically a series of holidays at the end of April and beginning of May that happen to line up so well as to give most workers an extended holiday. What’s always baffled me, though, is that the school year begins in April… and then everyone goes on vacation for a week at the end of the month. Seems like a weird time to do things, but then again, no one asked my opinion on how schools should operate (probably for good reason). But now we’ve strayed off course!
Golden Week consists of Showa Day (4/29), Constitution Day (5/3), Green(ery) Day (5/4), and Children’s Day (5/5). The first two celebrate the birthday of the previous emperor and the ratification of the Japanese constitution, respectively. Greenery Day ranks up there with other confusing Japanese holidays where you essentially don’t do anything special and there’s not historical significance, but it’s a holiday all the same (not much unlike Marine Day in July). Not that I’m complaining, but.. I’d at least like some TV specials to go along with my holidays. Or sales. President’s Day was practically invented for sales.
And I digress again! Back to the point, lastly we have Children’s Day which, as you may have guessed, is a day for celebrating (?) children! It actually used to be Boy’s Day back in the day, but apparently that was a bit sexist. While there actually is a Girl’s Day (3/3), it’s not really a holiday. For anyone who’s lived in Hawaii, Brazil or around any other large Japanese communities, you probably know of this holiday or at least recognize the popular flags that are raised up around that time:
 Children's Day Flags Random note: I still find it interesting that red is thought of in Asia as a color to signify women. I mean, blue and boys.. sure, I’m used to that. When used as a comparison side-by-side, it makes enough sense. But I don’t naturally associate red with women.
Where were we? Ah, yes.. Golden Week. So yeah, that’s coming up next week. I don’t have any plans right now–nor do I anticipate doing anything noteworthy–but a friend/ex coworker of mine from my English teaching days is coming up to Tokyo this weekend, so I’ll play tour guide for a day. To be totally honest, I’ll probably spend most of my time hanging out in a cafe reading books. It’s a pretty exciting life I lead. I recently found a new book on how to write English contracts… written in Japanese. Why? I like to do everything the hard way, of course! Plus, it’s good practice to learn how the contracts are written in Japanese as well.
That’s about all I’ve got from me for now, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something to ramble about again shortly!
By Jason, on April 12th, 2012
When your name is Jason, this is going to be a near constant refrain throughout your life. Everyone thinks they’re the first person to notice, and they’re sure to remind you of the hilarity that your name is Jason and that it’s Friday… the thirteenth. Get it???
Oh, it never stops being hilarious. Trust me.
Anyway, haven’t written much lately since I’ve been busy with work. Like.. Really busy. In my free time, I’ve started a translation project, which I’ll talk about soon (once it officially gets off the ground). Right now.. I’ve gotta run again!
By Jason, on March 29th, 2012
Because, for some strange reason, I hear a cat outside my apartment at night.. Even though I live on the third floor and we have a locked security door downstairs. Obviously, it’s a ghost cat. What else could it be?
I should go to bed (gotta wake up in 6 hours), but I’ll leave you with the Japanese version as well. Night!
By Jason, on March 27th, 2012
You know those times where it’s a horrible week and nothing’s going right… and it’s only Tuesday? Yep. Been one of those weeks. So I did what any other self-respecting 26 year old man would do:
I made candy!
Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming. You should know Jason! well enough to know that’s where he’s gonna take it.
I believe I mentioned it last week and briefly outlined my plan. I was going to put off my candy sushi-roll until next weekend, but I kinda needed something to keep me busy for the evening and pick up my spirits, so I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to do some shopping.
 The ingredients! After some debate (with myself, which lasts surprisingly longer than you’d assume arguments with yourself should), I ultimately decided upon the above for my sushi-making awesomeness. It was basically decided by availability, with a dash of consideration for cost. I could buy imported Rice Krispies cereal, or I could buy store-brand frosted flakes. You can see which won.
I won’t bore you with all the tiny details, but it basically goes like this:
 Goo 1. Throw butter in a pan with marshmallows and stir ‘em until you get a disgusting marshmallow goo.
2. Crush up some cereal (feel free to make Godzilla sound effects and laugh while doing this. Or not.. it’s entirely optional) and then throw the cereal bits in to the marshmallow mixture.
3. Stir it up until it’s all well and mixed, then stir it some more. Eyeball it and debate if you should throw in more cereal. Remember that you can’t remove cereal once mixed in, so decide against it.
 Mmm... 4. Remember that you don’t own any silicone pans, mats, or anything else to put the mixture on. Consider a cookie sheet, and then remember that you don’t own cookie sheets.
5. Briefly wonder why you didn’t do step 4 before starting on this project. Stop caring and proceed to step 6.
6. Spread the mixture out on a pan you scrounge up from on top of your oven, covering it in foil and non-stick baking paper.
7. Throw all this horrible mess into the refrigerator to cool and go check your e-mail. Someone may have e-mailed you in the last 10 minutes, and it’s probably really important.
 Taking shape.. 8. Find out no one e-mailed you. This probably makes sense, since you didn’t e-mail anyone recently, but don’t dwell on that for long. You’ve got stuff to do!
9. Do not, and I really do mean NOT, let the mixture completely cool. You want to mold it. So when it’s just cool enough to stop being sticky–and dear god is this stuff sticky–you can put the fillings on (I used melon cake and kit kat bars) and then roll it up. Measuring beforehand would be a good idea, but I don’t do stuff like that. I’m too cool to measure.
11. Now you’ll want to put this roll in the freezer. Yes, the freezer.
 Please don't guess.. 12. After it’s nice and solid, you’ll need to melt some chocolate. I recommend buying 3x more chocolate than you think you’ll need. A lot will get wasted in the coating process, and there’s no such thing as too much chocolate, so it’s a win-win. I also recommend dark chocolate, since you want it to look like seaweed.
13. Thirteen is unlucky.
14. Pour it all over the thing until it starts looking obscene. You may not want to take pictures of this step, because it looks really bad and your imagination runs wild.
15. Finally, you’ll want to cut it up into little rounds, about 3/4 of an inch to an inch. It should look something like…
 Candy Sushi! … this bit of awesomeness. Unlike most of my other creations, I actually tasted this one (there was an ugly end piece that looked very un-sushi-like). I have to say that it came out pretty well. In the future, I’d probably want to crush up the cereal a bit finer, or find something a little whiter, but overall I’m happy with how it turned out! Will be bringing these to the office tomorrow.
As for my personal life? Don’t ask. But at least my food extravaganza went well!
Off to do the dishes and eventually get some sleep. More awesomeness awaits tomorrow, I’m sure.
By Jason, on March 25th, 2012
I’m not one to typically complain much about taxes. I don’t like them (who does?), but they’re a necessary evil. Governments, by their very nature, are not money-making enterprises. In fact, they don’t make money at all (we even have laws to prevent them from competing in the market and making money). Look at the US post office and tell me that any corporation would keep that train wreck alive. But if you really think about it, we get a pretty sweet deal from the government. I pay a small stipend of my earnings and they subsidize schooling, provide . . . → Read More: The Tax Man Cometh
By Jason, on March 18th, 2012
I know what you’re thinking: Jason lives in the most populous city on earth, has no one to support, and no outstanding debt. He must lead a pretty awesome life and have exciting weekends, right?
Well, you’d be absolutely correct. I bring you..
Hamburger Cookies
A hamburger AND a cookie
Yep, I had to think of something to do to occupy my free time, so I decided to make some hamburger-inspired cookies. We had [censored] yesterday, so someone had to go into the office to [censored] for [censored]. Naturally, I volunteered. So part of my weekend of awesomeness . . . → Read More: A pound of sugar, tablespoon of milk, and a cup of awesome.
By Jason, on March 15th, 2012
This is what comes about when I try to explain to people where I spent the last three years of my life. It’s not like I was way out in the country, but it’s certainly not one of the more famous parts of the country. Yamaguchi is one of those places I compare to Nebraska in America: everyone’s heard of it, but you’re hard pressed to think of anything that happens there, to say nothing of a reason to go to there. No offense to anyone who lives in Nebraska, of course…
..but you really should think . . . → Read More: Yama what?
By Jason, on March 13th, 2012
You know that guy in the office? The one who’s ridiculously cheerful and doesn’t seem to know that he’s actually at, well, work? Tries to high five everyone and answers every question with “Absolutely!”? We’ve all dealt with that person and have had those moments where we wonder if that office worker is a little bit special. There are those Monday mornings where we’re still nursing our coffees and wishing it weren’t Monday when all of a sudden, that ray of sunshine comes blasting in, just a little too bright for our liking. Well, I’m that guy. And today, I bring you:
Confessions
of the Cheerful Office Guy
Read on for an inside look into the life of the guy who starts every day with a little-too-charming G’mornin’!
Continue reading You know that guy?
By Jason, on March 11th, 2012
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the important fact that today is the one year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake. Much like September 11th, I have a feeling that this will be one of those days that many people will talk about for years to come. At least for those of us living in Japan, “Where were you when it happened?” is still a common question to ask or to be asked when meeting people. Fortunately for me, I was all the way on the other side of Honshu (the main island) and didn’t even feel anything. . . . → Read More: Anniversary of a Tragedy
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