UNCANNY
Now that I have these fun things on my iBook to entertain me, I'm back in school once again.
"Ly! Go to sleep, you've got school tomorrow!"
"Just one more show mom? I promise its the last one..."
*3 episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. later*
"I should've gone to bed earlier. Drats!"
Especially now that I have a general sense of direction about Life-after-Japan, I really need to get my arse in shape for some disciplined work. I need to otherwise I won't be going in any direction.
= = = = =
What would be the probability of me meeting a fellow Singaporean up on my "local mount"? I had a great morning with Tsubaki. Climbing a mountain with bottle in one hand and two-way English-Japanese dictionary in hand is a first... We reached the second peak and were having a discussion on the fundamentals of the Japanese zeigeist and culture. In our stammering conversation, the only white dude (which came as a surprise to me) overheard us and came over to make himself known to us. He and his mate were here with a Cultural Exchange group. So, his mate comes back up with a can of beer. At first I think, its his Japanese friend. Why not? I came with a Japanese friend too. But as we did introductions, he obviously wasn't. And when it came to my turn, I said my standard "Hello" to which he immediately went "Eh, you're from the East Coast of Australia".
Dude. That was fast. Am I that easy to tell? So I give the drill "yes, but I'm originally from Singapore. Shingapura-jin."
"Really?! Me too! I don't like a gaijin either! So I go around calling myself Gaijin in Disguise."
"What the?! That's my handle too!"
Then we swap notes on emails and nicknames and general small talk. That makes him my first Singaporean I've met in Japan. Doesn't feel like it though. Can't remember his name and will probably never see him again...
So the climb was good for me to get back to nature and all that jazz. I got burnt on my shoulders. Pity I can't show it off when I get back to Sydney. But at least the layers might hide how unfit I've become. Tsubaki was great company. Even in the face of language barrier we still managed conversations about his music (he composes for violin and piano), Asian history, culture and politics. His research is on something about Darwinian evolution of Human Psychology... so we got talking about a lot that has happened, Greco-Roman civilization, Roman Catholicism (I bring in Christianity and "you should come with me to church so you can study more about it!").
He said he would like to take me to meet his sensei-prof and have discussions about it. That prof has some interesting ideas that Japan actually appropriated from the Hindoo and Indian cultures before they appropriated from the Chinese. It could make sense.
First, he'll have to call me though.
Audio: The hum of the air-conditioner.
Biblio: GRE stuff
Cerebrio: It's monday. Its 33 degrees outside. There is a thunderstorm brewing in the Nara basin which will go on for the next few days. I can hear it in the mountain lee. I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WORK!
"Ly! Go to sleep, you've got school tomorrow!"
"Just one more show mom? I promise its the last one..."
*3 episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. later*
"I should've gone to bed earlier. Drats!"
Especially now that I have a general sense of direction about Life-after-Japan, I really need to get my arse in shape for some disciplined work. I need to otherwise I won't be going in any direction.
= = = = =
What would be the probability of me meeting a fellow Singaporean up on my "local mount"? I had a great morning with Tsubaki. Climbing a mountain with bottle in one hand and two-way English-Japanese dictionary in hand is a first... We reached the second peak and were having a discussion on the fundamentals of the Japanese zeigeist and culture. In our stammering conversation, the only white dude (which came as a surprise to me) overheard us and came over to make himself known to us. He and his mate were here with a Cultural Exchange group. So, his mate comes back up with a can of beer. At first I think, its his Japanese friend. Why not? I came with a Japanese friend too. But as we did introductions, he obviously wasn't. And when it came to my turn, I said my standard "Hello" to which he immediately went "Eh, you're from the East Coast of Australia".
Dude. That was fast. Am I that easy to tell? So I give the drill "yes, but I'm originally from Singapore. Shingapura-jin."
"Really?! Me too! I don't like a gaijin either! So I go around calling myself Gaijin in Disguise."
"What the?! That's my handle too!"
Then we swap notes on emails and nicknames and general small talk. That makes him my first Singaporean I've met in Japan. Doesn't feel like it though. Can't remember his name and will probably never see him again...
So the climb was good for me to get back to nature and all that jazz. I got burnt on my shoulders. Pity I can't show it off when I get back to Sydney. But at least the layers might hide how unfit I've become. Tsubaki was great company. Even in the face of language barrier we still managed conversations about his music (he composes for violin and piano), Asian history, culture and politics. His research is on something about Darwinian evolution of Human Psychology... so we got talking about a lot that has happened, Greco-Roman civilization, Roman Catholicism (I bring in Christianity and "you should come with me to church so you can study more about it!").
He said he would like to take me to meet his sensei-prof and have discussions about it. That prof has some interesting ideas that Japan actually appropriated from the Hindoo and Indian cultures before they appropriated from the Chinese. It could make sense.
First, he'll have to call me though.
Audio: The hum of the air-conditioner.
Biblio: GRE stuff
Cerebrio: It's monday. Its 33 degrees outside. There is a thunderstorm brewing in the Nara basin which will go on for the next few days. I can hear it in the mountain lee. I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WORK!
posted by The Chilibuddy @ 10:48 am ::
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