Song 2
I wrote this last night, I'll fill you in on today tomorrow.
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It's sometimes difficult choosing how to arrange a blog like this. The point of contention within myself are whether to structure it chronologically by event, or chronologically by the order ideas come to me, usually compromising along the lines of a hodge-podge (I think that's a phrase?) mixture of the two. It may this time be easiest to start with more abstract musings and work my way into the events~
As I sit down to order my thoughts, a little part of me worries that
I do things simply to write about and remember then, rather than for the joy of the moment. I think that little part is wrong. Occasionally you do find yourself setting out for 'an experience', but these either turn out to be disappointing, or the experience you most enjoy is tangental to, or an unsuspected subset of, the experience you originally set out for. Either way, I'm having pleanty of fun, little section of my brain, stop over-thinking silly.
Some people think that everything happens for a reason. I'm not sure if I fully agree, pleanty of things feeling pretty unreasonable and rubbish, and 'it's fate' or as the Japanese would, and often do, say 'shou ga nai' - 'it can't be helped' - often seems an inadequate excuse. But anyhow, tonight I definitely had one of those moments of good fate. the Ryokan - Japanese style inn - I'm staying in - oh by the way, I'm in Nagasaki now - only provides internet with a wire, which I could not get working. Had I been able to I would have chatted to friends and got an early night: it's 3:30 in the morning now and I need to brush my teeth before bed. Back at the Ryokan now, my computer has decided in favour of connecting to the wireless internet next door. Fate.
And now I work backwards starting with today. I woke up quite late in my hostel in Osaka, say goodbye to my Ausie chum and set out to Nagasaki. It's two trains and 5 hours worth of journey but it's hassle-free, comfy and I start and finish Natsume Soseki's Kokoro - a classic of Japanese literature, thought provoking, deeply moving, funny in its understatement, do read! - And here I was worried I had brought too many books. I arrive, confusedly (spell check says that's a real word!) stumble my way to the inn 3 hours late for check in and 7 hours late for sight seeing, doddle around for an hour not using the internet then set out looking for an internet cafe.
On my way down to the main street - I'm situated down a side alley off a rather San Francisco-esq hill, pics later - I see a curious looking tea house with a coat of armor and other trinkets outside, and the 'miruku tii' - milk tea - on the menu catches my attention. I make a mental note of the place and carry on in search of an internet cafe. The ever-plolite staff at both Lawson and AMPM connivance stores (surely here an acceptable use of the Americanism) say that the nearest internet cafe is at least half an hour away. I decide to go back and get some tea to fuel my journey. The tea is actually very good, and the 'cheese toast' isn't bad either. The odd little cafe, which can't decide it it's decor is Japanese or Western, has a very nice vibe, and it seems the patrons are all on friendly terms with the people behind the bar.
The entrance of a gaijin into the place did not go unnoticed and it only took some trivial question or other in japanese on my part to get the conversation started. People leave until it's just one girl and the three people who run the bar. Wow you're 18 sugoi! So's she! - Email addresses exchanged SCORE (I can hear the scandalous family talk now) But anywho, she's rather shy and reluctant to speak english - most young Japanese are as they have immaculate grammar and pretty poor pronunciation - and the bulk of conversation is with the barman and the man who is now apparently her grandfather. We all chat about our language's oddities, cultural quirks like the English youth drinking culture and the Japanese lack thereof , talk is light, fun and grammatically all over the shop. I'm given a cute little saké cup (what the hell tense have I ended up in now) and the grandfather gives me a lift to the internet cafe! Crikey, people are nice
I internet, I chat, I comment, I pay, I leave.
Walking back from the cafe at 3 O' clock, I'm notice the quiet. An incredible sense of freedom strikes me. It's 3 O' clock, and I'm walking around Nagasaki alone, and that's absolutely fine. I can do the same tomorrow if I want. I hardly live and oppressed life at home, I could hardly have better circumstances, but the feeling of being alone in a foreign place, with no schedule to stick to, no appointments to keep, no allocated use of time and no place you're meant to be, well; people ask me how I can handle the thought of being away, alone for so long, I'd ask how people how they can handle not experiencing this.
This sense of freedom, a contentment in where I am, changes to a feeling of joy. I once read the Very Short Introduction to Emotion and always found it illuminating the distinction between the 'mood' of happiness, which is a temporary positive disposition which makes one appreciate the good and ignore the bad more easily and the 'emotion' of joy, a rare state where you go beyond contentment and just feel, well, joy. So I'm walking home, very happy; I don't have my camera on me but I see pictures everywhere that I will come back and take, I hear the sound of insects chirping and the mild summer night. I detour and wander to this park which - only Clara will get this reference - reminds me ridiculously of that park Shenmue near your house where you can practice fighting, and there are some shabby cats which remind me of that kitten you can feed. And now I'm back here, thinking I should sleep soon.
Of yesterday I really need only mention my evening. Me and the Aussie go to America Village in Osaka. I had been told last year by some Japanese scenesters that the best tako-yaki in Osaka were at Tako Tako King, the little bar with a big 3D octopus outside. Osaka is the best place in the world for tako-yaki, this bar the best in Osaka, we eventually find it and enjoy the best tako-yaki in the world, The bar has an amazing vibe, good music, good drinks, cute touches with all the figurines lying around. We discover that everything one says in the context of a octopus ball bar is suitable for the "that's what she said!" diss. Japan is full of amazing, tiny tucked away bars with a cozy vibe and good conversation, and that's really nice.
Night night all, I'll write soon and get some more pictures up!
xxx
---------
It's sometimes difficult choosing how to arrange a blog like this. The point of contention within myself are whether to structure it chronologically by event, or chronologically by the order ideas come to me, usually compromising along the lines of a hodge-podge (I think that's a phrase?) mixture of the two. It may this time be easiest to start with more abstract musings and work my way into the events~
As I sit down to order my thoughts, a little part of me worries that
I do things simply to write about and remember then, rather than for the joy of the moment. I think that little part is wrong. Occasionally you do find yourself setting out for 'an experience', but these either turn out to be disappointing, or the experience you most enjoy is tangental to, or an unsuspected subset of, the experience you originally set out for. Either way, I'm having pleanty of fun, little section of my brain, stop over-thinking silly.
Some people think that everything happens for a reason. I'm not sure if I fully agree, pleanty of things feeling pretty unreasonable and rubbish, and 'it's fate' or as the Japanese would, and often do, say 'shou ga nai' - 'it can't be helped' - often seems an inadequate excuse. But anyhow, tonight I definitely had one of those moments of good fate. the Ryokan - Japanese style inn - I'm staying in - oh by the way, I'm in Nagasaki now - only provides internet with a wire, which I could not get working. Had I been able to I would have chatted to friends and got an early night: it's 3:30 in the morning now and I need to brush my teeth before bed. Back at the Ryokan now, my computer has decided in favour of connecting to the wireless internet next door. Fate.
And now I work backwards starting with today. I woke up quite late in my hostel in Osaka, say goodbye to my Ausie chum and set out to Nagasaki. It's two trains and 5 hours worth of journey but it's hassle-free, comfy and I start and finish Natsume Soseki's Kokoro - a classic of Japanese literature, thought provoking, deeply moving, funny in its understatement, do read! - And here I was worried I had brought too many books. I arrive, confusedly (spell check says that's a real word!) stumble my way to the inn 3 hours late for check in and 7 hours late for sight seeing, doddle around for an hour not using the internet then set out looking for an internet cafe.
On my way down to the main street - I'm situated down a side alley off a rather San Francisco-esq hill, pics later - I see a curious looking tea house with a coat of armor and other trinkets outside, and the 'miruku tii' - milk tea - on the menu catches my attention. I make a mental note of the place and carry on in search of an internet cafe. The ever-plolite staff at both Lawson and AMPM connivance stores (surely here an acceptable use of the Americanism) say that the nearest internet cafe is at least half an hour away. I decide to go back and get some tea to fuel my journey. The tea is actually very good, and the 'cheese toast' isn't bad either. The odd little cafe, which can't decide it it's decor is Japanese or Western, has a very nice vibe, and it seems the patrons are all on friendly terms with the people behind the bar.
The entrance of a gaijin into the place did not go unnoticed and it only took some trivial question or other in japanese on my part to get the conversation started. People leave until it's just one girl and the three people who run the bar. Wow you're 18 sugoi! So's she! - Email addresses exchanged SCORE (I can hear the scandalous family talk now) But anywho, she's rather shy and reluctant to speak english - most young Japanese are as they have immaculate grammar and pretty poor pronunciation - and the bulk of conversation is with the barman and the man who is now apparently her grandfather. We all chat about our language's oddities, cultural quirks like the English youth drinking culture and the Japanese lack thereof , talk is light, fun and grammatically all over the shop. I'm given a cute little saké cup (what the hell tense have I ended up in now) and the grandfather gives me a lift to the internet cafe! Crikey, people are nice
I internet, I chat, I comment, I pay, I leave.
Walking back from the cafe at 3 O' clock, I'm notice the quiet. An incredible sense of freedom strikes me. It's 3 O' clock, and I'm walking around Nagasaki alone, and that's absolutely fine. I can do the same tomorrow if I want. I hardly live and oppressed life at home, I could hardly have better circumstances, but the feeling of being alone in a foreign place, with no schedule to stick to, no appointments to keep, no allocated use of time and no place you're meant to be, well; people ask me how I can handle the thought of being away, alone for so long, I'd ask how people how they can handle not experiencing this.
This sense of freedom, a contentment in where I am, changes to a feeling of joy. I once read the Very Short Introduction to Emotion and always found it illuminating the distinction between the 'mood' of happiness, which is a temporary positive disposition which makes one appreciate the good and ignore the bad more easily and the 'emotion' of joy, a rare state where you go beyond contentment and just feel, well, joy. So I'm walking home, very happy; I don't have my camera on me but I see pictures everywhere that I will come back and take, I hear the sound of insects chirping and the mild summer night. I detour and wander to this park which - only Clara will get this reference - reminds me ridiculously of that park Shenmue near your house where you can practice fighting, and there are some shabby cats which remind me of that kitten you can feed. And now I'm back here, thinking I should sleep soon.
Of yesterday I really need only mention my evening. Me and the Aussie go to America Village in Osaka. I had been told last year by some Japanese scenesters that the best tako-yaki in Osaka were at Tako Tako King, the little bar with a big 3D octopus outside. Osaka is the best place in the world for tako-yaki, this bar the best in Osaka, we eventually find it and enjoy the best tako-yaki in the world, The bar has an amazing vibe, good music, good drinks, cute touches with all the figurines lying around. We discover that everything one says in the context of a octopus ball bar is suitable for the "that's what she said!" diss. Japan is full of amazing, tiny tucked away bars with a cozy vibe and good conversation, and that's really nice.
Night night all, I'll write soon and get some more pictures up!
xxx
posted by Domuseswords at
02:19
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