Hurricane Sandy Made My Day

今日の日本語の言葉: ongaku (音楽) - music

This word has been brought to you by what's been following me all day

This morning I woke up and got on Facebook. I do that every day, but today was especially special in the sense that everybody on the coast seemed to be online, talking about their hurricane experiences. Many Rindge students were also praying for no school, and the way that they were doing it was so humorous that I feel that I must share some of it with you, as a service to the world:

Above is Mach's status, which made me (and Anna) laugh so hard. It was my favorite of them all. The reason that I found this hilarious is because Mr. Matteo was my AP English Language teacher, and he is currently teaching world religion, a class which both Anna and Mach are in. They've been spending this weekend writing a paper about whatever religion they want (it's been on my mind too because I've been helping Anna with hers), and thus, this hit at just the right time. This status is also why I love hashtags. #commentswithnospacesseeminfinitelyfunnier

Some of the other ones that I've encountered and would like to put down somewhere more permanent than the ever changing face of Facebook can be found below:

• Mach: I realized the most horrifying news a few minutes ago, and it's still sinking in, Angleo's closed last year cause of flooding, and if they close this year, I might just not be able to cope. If Angelo's doesn't open, neither can Rindge! (Angelo's is a sub shop near school that is frequented by us CRLS students, yet is known to serve very good but highly greasy food)
• Henry: I always knew I would have a heart attack because of angelos... but I never thought it would be like this (This here is the comment that had me dying of laughter)
• Mach: If you rename the hurricane A-Rod, then it won't hit anything.
• Arthur: Rocking the bathing suit to school tomorrow. Who's in?
• Eli: I will not step over trees to get to school. Just letting you know.
• Julie: My school is too smart to cancel school. So while you guys can enjoy your day all warm and cozy Belmont and Arlington, we in Cambridge will be dodging trees and getting sick in the rain. #cambridgecaresabouteducationratherthanhealth

My favorite thing I found though, were two of the following things, one of which is unrelated. The first is a picture of Keanu Reaves when he was younger in some movie the name of which I've forgotten. The second is a video of MIT doing Gangnam Style, which I knew was coming sooner or later, but I did not know it was going to be this awesome. Thus, please enjoy:

And here is MIT's take on Gangnam Style:

So after I explored all of Facebook's wonders and had talked to Anna for quite a while, alas, it was time to go to school. I promised Anna I would refresh the page every hour for the CPSD website to see if school was canceled, because there was a chance it would be, but it was highly unlikely. And now that I sit here, I am sad to report that there was school, and thus Anna couldn't stay home and talk to me. D:

But then again, education is also good.

Class today was held with Seshime-sensei, who, as I told you yesterday, thinks we're all more simple-minded than we actually are. She asked us if we knew what "banana" was, and was like, "Oh! You guys know?!" as if "banana" (pronounced like a British person would say it) is something so foreign to all of us. We all learned English in our lives before we came here... And we've told her that. Alas, I don't know what more I could do. So instead I spent the class drawing hands, which are so damn difficult. I also read manga on my phone, which was nice.

A hand that I'm especially proud of (though not the rest of it,
since that part was sketched)

On my way home from school, I ended up listening to "For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert, which also makes me think of Alexei and Mikhail very much. I also finished learning "Eternity ~Memories of Lightwaves~" on piano while I've been here, and have started learning "Itsumo Nando Demo" on the piano, which is a great and new adventure and change (I've been working on Eternity for two years off an on, without much else). So this is where some of the music theme for today comes from.

I stopped by 7/11 on my way home from school because I was so damn hungry, and stumbled upon the wonder that is chocolate mochi with a chocolate sauce filling on the inside. Do you know how much I had to restrain myself in order not to get this? I don't think I'll have that much self restraint tomorrow! We'll see. It just looks so damn good, and chocolate has always vied with vanilla for the post of my favorite ice cream flavor. Yummm!

While I was paying at 7/11, I put my bag down to search my wallet before realizing that my bag was resting on something. I've always put it either on the ground or on the actual counter, and it took me a while to realize that it was on neither of the two. I was stunned. Why don't I see this more in America, huh? It makes perfect sense, it doesn't take up that much space, and it's so damn helpful. No longer will I have back pains from bending over, or guilt from taking up their precious tiny counter space (and sometimes accidentally knocking over those little candy boxes and stuff either). So smart!

This is out of chronological order for these pictures, but below is a picture of a curious little shrine that I pass every day to and from school. It really is just very random. I walk, and here's the inner monologue: wall... wall... wall... garage... wall... hole... wait. Backtrack. Is that a shrine? It's almost unnoticeable, yet it's so beautiful and quaint. It's the little details like that that make me really love Japan so much more than I do already. I have no god to which I pray, but I am able to appreciate the beauty of the place nevertheless.

Before I go for the day, here's something that I find interesting about Japan: the Yakuza are so... ordinary. I've always thought of the Russian Solntsevskaya Bratva or the Italian Mafia and many other organized crime groups or gangs to be pretty secretive or feared and stuff. Or at least a little ostracized from the rest of society. But I've already seen a few Yakuza members around, just taking the train like it's nobody's business. You can tell them apart from everybody else by their style of dress and their tattoos, but otherwise they're just like normal people. I felt highly uncomfortable sitting on the train next to a Yakuza guy once, but no one else seemed to mind. After a while, I relaxed too. I've seen one in a little grocery store buying shampoo. That was something I thought I'd never see.

They can't enter places like onsens and stuff, but I wonder why, considering they're allowed practically everywhere else, and I've seen them in many odd settings that I don't think would be the same if you were to move the whole situation to Russia and have it with the Bratva. If I saw some kind Yakuza guy helping an old lady cross the street now, I don't think I'd be surprised.

I mean, I was stunned today when I saw someone shoplift in Japan for the first time. I know that like every place, they obviously have their share of criminal activity, but it was so damn blatant that I thought my eyes were deceiving me. If it was that blatant in America, some self-righteous guy or upstanding citizen might have spoken up, but I definitely wasn't the only one who saw it, yet everybody else remained quiet and just looked away. What a difference in culture! That thing and the organized gangs thing. So very different.

Well, that's all for today! Tomorrow is another class with Yoneyama-sensei, so there's tons of fun to look forward to then! Mata ashita!
マギー