Category: General (Page 7 of 18)

This post is going to be a shift from what I usually post on my blog. It’s just a rant, so feel free to ignore it.

We’ve all seen those videos that have a really exciting title, but when we click on the link our ears are berated by some crappy techno music (and I like good techno music, so don’t get me wrong by thinking that I think all techno is crappy), and we sit through a 3 minute video that would make the word mundane a compliment.

Here’s a good example. Granted, it’s a professionally made video, and it has some shiny lights in it, but at it’s core, it’s an unboxing video. PLEASE STOP THE UNBOXING VIDEOS! Tell us what’s inside and move on.

A crappy video is a crappy video. Period. Sure, you could do some editing to make it more exciting. You could do a lot of things to make the video more exciting, but adding dubstep does not an exciting video make. Have some creativity. Sure, maybe you’re interested in something. Maybe other people are too, but that doesn’t make you creative. That doesn’t mean you have any idea as to how to make an interesting video. Words of advice: If you wouldn’t watch the video without the music, then it’s probably not worth posting.

I leave you with a gem of a video. Enjoy!

/rant

EDIT

Just wanted to end on a good note, so here is something that I think everyone should see, because cats are amazing!

I’m convinced anyone who says, “I love it when it snows, it’s so beautiful.” either doesn’t live in a place where it snows much, or they don’t ever have to get out in it.

I hate snow. I used to be one of those people, who could sit in my room and look out the window, and enjoy the serene beauty that is the snow. There were no problems in the world. Then I moved, and got a real job, where I have no choice but to be in it sometimes.

It sucks.

Let me begin by saying, driving in snow isn’t that bad. If you can drive from your garage to your parking garage at your office, you’ll have to go slower, but for the most part, there will be no problems. You can enjoy the white powdery stuff and never have to worry. If you have to walk in it, it’s a completely different story though. Your pants get wet. And because it’s so cold, they tend to stay wet for longer periods of time. When they get wet, so do your socks, especially if snow is falling into your shoes. Those never seem to dry.

Now, if you have to dress in business clothes for your job, it gets even worse. Suits are expensive, and they are also expensive to clean. Having a freshly pressed suit quickly turns to crap because the water, and perhaps salt that you have unintentionally been kicking up onto your pants encrusts these little white spots that never seem to go away without washing them, not to mention all the mud you kick onto your clothes as well. People riding bikes also have a habit of spraying the mixture onto your clothes.

And then, anyone who’s had to walk more than 10 feet in snow realizes that it is slick, especially when the slope changes. I can’t count the number of times I’ve almost fallen. You have to be on constant lookout for a slick spot. My coworker even broke his arm last year because he hit a slick spot while biking.

Now, all this complaining, but I will give snow one thing. On a mountain, it is beautiful, and I’m happy to be able to see that from my balcony. And snowboarding is fun too, but I would give all that up if I never had to walk in snow again. Maybe I should move to Hawaii.

So one of the things that I have come to loathe about Japan, is the fact that nobody here seems to care about anyone else when they get sick. The flu and colds are running rampant here, and it seems like nobody really cares. They just stick a mask on their face and continue on like normal.

Let me tell you something, masks help, but they really aren’t that effective (unless you have one of those really expensive masks that generate ozone constantly). People buy these really cheap 30 yen masks and they think that the cough they have isn’t going anywhere. That it’s somehow localized to just within their mask. I have a question for you, where do you think that air that your breathing is coming from? I can guarantee that not all of it is going through the mask. There’s a lot of space around the sides.

Secondly, cover your mouth! For those who aren’t wearing masks, they believe that a cough or sneeze is completely harmless. Sitting on a train is one of the most dangerous places in my opinion, because you have all these people who don’t care about anyone but themselves, coughing and spewing their virus and bacteria infested air all over the place. I learned at a young age to cover my mouth. Later on, I learned not to use my hand but perhaps a rag or if nothing else is available, the sleeve of my jacket. Hey, it works. I haven’t been sick in years!

But this week, one of my coworkers came to work sick, hacking and coughing like crazy. And he had to talk to people. That’s his job. Talking. How can you do that if your sick? What must the students think? I know I wouldn’t be coming back to a class where the teacher has that little respect of my health that he’ll come to my class when he’s that sick.

Now, I’m not definitely saying that he’s the one who made me sick. I could have gotten sick from touching the elevator button on the way to eating lunch and forgetting to wash my hands before touching around my face (I highly doubt it). But I’m sure the extra barrage of germs didn’t help.

Anyway, if you’re sick, be considerate of your coworkers, and call in for the day. It’s the best thing for everyone!

Thanks

/rant

I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year, I thought I’d try it. Partly because I need all the motivation I can get for a couple things that I have been avoiding putting any real work into for a long time.

My first resolution is to study Japanese for at least 30 minutes everyday. I know it sounds a little crazy, seeing as how I live in Japan, that I actually need to study the language. I’m immersed in it, right? I wish that was the case. I rarely get to speak Japanese, due to my job, and haven’t progressed much in communication skills since I’ve been in Japan. It seems that the only time I get to speak Japanese is when I go out with my friends, which is usually out to drink. Since I don’t want to risk destroying my body by drinking everyday, I figured now is as good a time as any to invest in some alternative study methods. I’ve been using a site memrise.com and their Android app to do most of my studying. It’s nice because I’m both learning new vocabulary as well as the kanji that goes along with it.

My second resolution is focusing on something that I have wanted to do for years. I figured since I’m 30 now, I should probably get to work on it or it will probably never happen. It’s programming. And since mobile is the way of the future, I’m focusing on Android. So, my resolution is to write a new app every week. Of course, none of these apps are going to be worth anything. They’re mostly simple apps that just move text around, do basic addition, or other mundane tasks, but the fact that I am actually forcing myself to get into this and do it is what is important. I even signed up for an online programming class at a university. I’ve already had a few app ideas that I want to program, but are too complex at my current stage. My goal is to become proficient with Java and the Android system so that I can write those, and hopefully make some money off of them.

I think it’s important that we all do what we can to better ourselves. That’s why New Year’s resolutions exist. If you don’t have any goals, then you probably aren’t moving in any tangible direction. And when you do have goals, it’s important to let people know so that they can help you when you get in over your head (which will definitely happen with programming).

So what are your resolutions?

I’m back in Japan! Err… well, I guess I’ve been back for a few days. Five to be exact. But the point is that I’m home safely.

My sleep cycle is slowly re-regulating. I was able to get an almost full night of sleep last night. Should be better by the beginning of my work week next week. Work has been very difficult this week. Haha.

I want to thank everyone for making this crazy traveler feel at home again. It was really nice to get to see everyone. I wish I could have spent more time with all of you who I was able to see, and time in general for those who I didn’t have a chance to see. You know who you are =)

This was the first year that I came back that I was actually overwhelmed by the differences between Japan and the US. I guess I had forgotten some of the things that I used to take for granted. For example, the food. If you had dinner with me, then you probably heard me complain about the size of the dishes. In Japan, very seldom do you find a place that serves meals with that many calories packed into them, on plates of that size. I’m pretty sure that this is a psychological phenomenon, but the huge plates with ginormous amounts of food made me feel obligated to finish, but at the point of complete stuffedness, I just couldn’t. I ended up gaining ten pounds in just two weeks. On that account, I’m happy to be back in Japan. Haha. Now I have to work on losing that extra weight.

Another thing that I realized was the amount of time I spent alone in the car. It felt really strange to be spending literally hours in the car everyday. I was driving everywhere: 15 minutes to the mall, 15 minutes home, 20 minutes to a friends house, 20 minutes home, 10 minutes to the convenience store, 10 minutes home, etc. It seemed like a complete waste of time, although it did give me the opportunity to catch up on new music, so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

After looking back on everything, I almost wish that I hadn’t come back for a big holiday, but rather a different time in the year when everyone was more available. I’ll have to remedy that next year.

Anyway, I’m just rambling now. In short, had a blast. Everyone was amazing, as usual. I’m looking forward to the next time I get to see you again.

I’ll update the pictures I took in my gallery. They’ll be pretty boring this time around though. I mostly just took pics of food for my students to see.