I live. I promise.

This weekend was interesting, but not so much in a way that compelled me to take pictures. I took one, and it about sums up the entire deal in one shot.

On Sunday (after a Saturday full of Japanese lessons- not too fun to write about, but wholly productive), I went to check out the Ritsumeikan University Festival. This time of year is, evidently, Festival Time. So along with the eight million merchants hawking various ethnic dishes (in which I got to gaze upon the wonder of Hot Dog On a Stick presented as ethnic right next to a Bangladeshi curry stall and a Vietnamese Pho booth), they had two things of real note- one of which I got a semi-decent picture of. This crowd- this throng milling about- centered on a wrestling ring, in which skinny Japanese collegiates dressed alternately in Luchadore (Mexican wrestler) masks and, as we see by the poor soul on the right, next to nothing at all. It takes a real man to duke it out in big fake theatrical style in ten-degree celsius weather wearing nothing but a pair of pink spandex briefs.

The other item of note, in the "not so weird but just as cool" category, was a ten-foot tall parade float bearing two four-foot taiko drums played by girls whose manic, gleeful smiles bordered on the psychotic. Add to this mental picture the fact that the float wasn't propelled by any mere car- oh no- it was dragged around the campus all day by a team of twenty or so strongmen in traditional Japanese garb. Any one of these guys could have beaten up five of Mr. Pink Spandex Briefs up there. The entire assembly was preceded by a team of another twenty or so dancers, male and female, dressed as horse-and-rider teams. As this behemoth was hauled around, it would make periodic stops in order to show off the dancing talents of the folks up front and give the big guys a break- this colossus was HEAVY.

All right, so I lied. There's one other item worth mentioning at the festival before I leave it behind- there are evidently two Guns and Roses cover bands at this university, and a full swing band. All three were awesome- one of the GnR acts had a female lead singer that sounds pretty much just like Axl Rose. The swing band managed to get the entire crowd gyrating like madmen. Never say you've seen everything until you see a crowd of otherwise reserved Japanese professor-types jump, jive, and wail.

Today, at school, I got the chance to look over some student papers. They're both horrifying and awesome. The subject (as the teachers love to do this) was for the students to write my introduction for me, using information from a series of question-and-answer sessions in class. My favorite introduction, out of the whole set? "Andrew-sensei GREAT!!! because he tall. tallest in my class. We find him easy. He doesn't have girlfriend. Maybe..."

And that's all he wrote.

Unexpected kindness from students- I mentioned (in the many informal questionnaires that happen throughout my day, ranging from the size of my feet to whether or not I really can eat raw fish) that one of my favorite sports was ice hockey. Today, a student approached me bearing this month's issue of Hockeytown Insider- a Detroit adbook/magazine that does it's best to shill the downtown area. This month's- November's. I was amazed. Evidently, his dad had just gone to Detroit, and brought back some hockey stuff (as it's "exotic" here- see "hot dog on a stick", above), and so this guy approaches my desk, shoves the magazine at me, conferences with his friends for a moment, and says "You borrow. Not get homesick. Give back in a few days." He smiles really big, and reverts to Japanese when I thank him. He tells me about his dad's trip, about how he plays on a local ice hockey team, and then absorbs back into his group of friends with a "See you!"

I'm honestly impressed that he came up with the word "borrow." I haven't taught him that one yet. Every person in Japan knows "How are you? I'm fine thanks and you!" and "See you!" both said all in a string, like you've just switched on a tape recorder, but "borrow" and "homesick" are a bit outside of our standard curriculum.

After work, I decided to take a different route home, and found "Los Angeles". It's a clothing store/carmods body shop, pretty much what you'd get if you mishmashed Pimp My Ride with the "urban style" section of your local K-Mart. Having a poke around inside, they also evidently host an open mic night Saturdays- now, this thing is a bit off the train tracks. I'd have never found it if not for taking a few wrong turns down a few odd alleys. As such, I have to wonder what kind of a crowd you can pull in a garage/clothing store, and for what brand of music. I've yet to experience Japanese hip-hop live- more reports on this interesting find when further developments occur.

With that, it's back to work. I get the feeling that the next few weeks might be mostly classroom stories- I'll have more time to go out and run afoul of the culture when the next round of exams (thursday and friday) finishes.

pax.