In battle, if you you make your opponent flinch, you have already won.

On Saturday, April 7th, I took my first kendo ranking test–1kyu–and I passed. It was one of the most terrifying and nerve wracking things I have done in a long time. I felt so out of my element. I was putting myself far, far out of my comfort zone.

Kumamoto is known within the Kendo world as being a great place to study the practice. So many great high schools here who have won many national championships; so many individuals here who have one championships as well. Kumamoto is the very city where Miyamoto Musashi lived a good portion of his life and wrote The Book of Five Rings. The teaching here is strict and even the test, which varies from prefecture to prefecture, is a little different than other places where things are usually the same. I have been to Miyamoto Musashi’s grave and I have been to the very place he meditated and wrote his book–all here in Kumamoto City.

The day of my 1kyu test came about and I was a nervous wreck. Heck, the day before I was nervous. I understand that it may not be a good reason, but I was to be the only foreigner there at the testing–and I didn’t want to be the only foreigner. The moment I arrived on the day of the test and made my way down to the floor anyone who was able to see me on my way stopped in surprise, some even stopped whatever conversation they were having and just stared in surprise. Being the only foreigner there kind of puts a lot of pressure on you. People want to see how you do and are curious of how you do it. I was nervous. Very nervous. I wanted to do well, and I made many mistakes, but I passed.

The first part of the test had something called kirikaeshi which we had to perform twice, after that was something called uchikomi where the other person opens up specific hits on their body and the other is supposed to properly go for those openings and hit them. After those two things you recenter yourself and you start the shiai (match). In 1kyu it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. You just want to attempt to properly make cuts and hold your ground with good form.

If you pass that portion of the test you are allowed to move on to the second part of the test: the kihon kendo kata. In this portion of the test you are placed up against another person and perform specific kata. There are two sides to these techniques. One person is motodachi (loser) and the other is kakarite (winner). I got lucky in that sense because I ended up being motodachi. Motodachi actually started off being the hardest one out of the kata for me to learn, but in the end became the easiest. I performed my kata without any mistakes and that felt great.

The process was long. I was able to enter the budokan at 8am, things started around 9am and I sat around waiting to go on for almost three hours. I was #81 of 82 people! All in all, I finished around 2:30pm. My teacher was there watching, which made me even more nervous, but I tried. After the last part of the test was finished and while everyone was waiting for the results my teacher congratulated me on passing shodan before the results had even been posted.

After everything was said and done Kevin, Yuji and I went and got ramen and followed up with some ice cream to celebrate. It was a good day and I was very glad when it was over. My teacher is already pushing towards shodan which is in a month. I am already afraid, but if I really do intend to do shodan I will have to push myself harder and harder.

You should see me in a crown

Just replace “BARROWMAN!” with “MOFFAT!”

And then I found out about Sherlock, and I fell in love with the show because of that funny looking, sharp-as-hell cheekboned boy. It really is too bad that the seasons are so short. I love the fact each episode is 90 minutes long, but I want more time with the characters. More Moriarty. It really is too bad that I don’t have much of anybody to talk to about these two wonderful shows. Mom, Dan, grandma? That’s a hint. Hop to it!

Kya!

I began kendo again after a long hiatus. I took a break back in June because I was studying for the JLPT N4 test–which I passed. I’m due for N3 in December. After which (if I pass) I will be taking a break from the tests and focusing on conversational Japanese. I had my first kendo class last weekend and I got my bogu armor set (hand-me-down) which I fell in love with. Yes, it’s used, but I love it. It’s different and unique. It’s old, with character. It’s amazing. The stitching is purple and everything is just good. It’s just perfect. Well, almost perfect. But it’s close enough. I bought a bokken for practicing alone (it’s heavier than a shinai). Here is Mika, my friend, pretending to block a blow with my bokken with her hands.

I’m going to Tokyo later this month (on the 22nd). I will go to a art museum for some geeky Evangelion fun, the ghibli museum, Akihabara, Asakusa, Tokyo SkyTree, and some other awesome places yet to be determined. Nick and his wife want me to go to the huge Gundam statue. I will sure try, but I cannot promise.

Yeah, baby!

My phone is on the fritz. It’s broken, and I am looking for a new phone which means a new email address if I switch. I will not be going to iPhone and I’ll be switching back to an Android OS phone (YES). There will be mass emails when/if I get it. Don’t worry. The number should stay the same, so no worries there. Not like any of you know my number. But the email will change. Completely. No choice. I’ll be changing providers.

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.

Lately on my bike rides home at night either from work or the gym I find my thoughts being flooded by the steps that I’ve taken that have lead me here. To this point in my life. To this country. To the path I’ve chosen to currently walk.

Sometimes it feels like it was only a few days ago when I was staying up all night chatting online in the Yahoo chat rooms with my friends about Japanese things such as anime and whatnot. Having sleepovers with my best friend Monique and watching Toonami after school. Sometimes I wake up in the morning with the very same sensation and feeling that I felt during summer vacation in between grades. It’s so hard for me to believe sometimes that time has really flown by this quickly.

Then I realize there is still so much ahead of me that I have yet to find and conquer. This part of my life is just a chapter. It isn’t the whole book. I think about where I will go, which path I want to take, if I want to walk that path with someone or go on my own for a while–and all of these thoughts flood my mind as I huff my bike along the path that follows along with Shirakawa River.

History and Tourism

Early last month in May I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in Osaka over Golden Week. For those of you who don’t know what Golden Week is, consider yourself lucky. It’s honestly one of the worst times to travel in Japan because everyone is traveling. Perhaps it’s similar to trying to travel and sight-see over Memorial weekend or Fourth of July in America. The difference is, you get about a week off from work (depending on your job) and since everyone else is getting time off, why not go places and see things? I decided to go to Kyoto and Nara. Both of which were full of tourists, but Kyoto was SO crowded. I was so surprised. There were crowded lines on the sidewalks just to get to temples and shrines.

I would not recommend visiting Japan during the first week of May. Everyone is going everywhere. Traveling is expensive because they jack up the prices during that time–because they can. Not only that, but tickets to travel by train, bus, or airplane are all sold out almost a month or two in advance because people plan ahead since it’s so busy during this week.

Because I am feeling lazy, here is a link to the pictures I took in Kyoto: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isshoni/sets/72157629971269309/

Here is a link to the pictures I took in Nara: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isshoni/sets/72157629591100774/

One strange thing, though. There was a guy at Fushimi-Inari Shrine (the place in Kyoto with all the red gates) who either had a REAL gun or a fake gun. He was dressed in American military wear, but the thing is the flag patch on his shoulder was not reversed, so it was clear that his uniform was fake. Diego and I stopped at the rest area on the way down to take a breather, and the guy came down and stopped just outside of the rest area, dropped his bag and pulled out a gun and proceeded to load a magazine. At that point I decided it was time to leave.

Other than that, the weather was beautiful. There were too many people, but that is to be expected of a tourist area. So many people say that they want to go to Kyoto to see “real Japan” but after living here for a year I can tell you that it isn’t “real Japan”. It’s a part of Japan set up to show you what they think you want to see. Yes, the shrines and temples are real. But everything else is just an act. People walking around in kimono or yukata pay someone to dress them up in that stuff so they can walk around Kyoto that way. Even the “old town” of Kyoto was rebuilt to show you what it used to be like and it’s all modern. It’s all tourist shops to try to sell you things.

If you want to see Japan, go to small towns. Get out of the big cities and just enjoy the surroundings.

Eating words has never given me indigestion

Within the last month I have been realitively busy. After my trip to Osaka I went on a trip to Okinawa with my company which was a wonderful experience. The downpoint of the entire trip was that it rained a little every day and there weren’t really any clear skies. However, I did end up scuba diving, swimming in the ocean and even helping a hermit crab change it’s shell.

[Video will be placed here at a later time]

The first day we arrived in Okinawa we ate Okinawa soba which looks a lot more like ramen than soba. The flavor was good and I enjoyed the entire experience. There was so much to eat–I couldn’t finish it. Actually, I had placed myself on a diet prior to going to Okinawa and when I arrived I threw that diet out of the window so I could enjoy the food. Unfortunately we didn’t have Taco Rice (yes, “taco”. No, not “tako”) which is a famous Okinawan food. After that my group went to the man-made cave the Japanese used in defense against the Americans in WW2. It was a very eerie experience. There were rooms with bullet holes in them, scattered holes from suicide grenades, etc. The museum seemed to paint Americans in a negative light (respectfully so, given some of the things that happened) but it made me feel a little out of place. They had some amazing photographs though–like one of the sky that looked as though it was covered in the trails of shooting stars–but it was bullets.

After that we headed to a pretty interesting castle. The thing to keep in mind about castles in Okinawa is that they don’t really look anything like Japanese castles. The culture in Okinawa is more closely resembled to that of China–or a country close to it. The castles and the scenery were beautiful, though. I really enjoyed sightseeing.

The hotel was beautiful. I have never stayed in such a nice hotel. My balcony over looked the ocean and it was beautiful and blue. Sleeping in an actual western style bed was also heaven for me.

I went scuba diving which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. All I can say is I want to do it again, and again, and again. I hope that I can, even if it isn’t done in Okinawa.

Unfortunately it rained the entire time during my trip so I didn’t get to have nearly as much beach time as I wanted. And of course it was sunny and hot the day we had to leave to go back to Kumamoto.

And that’s all I can write for now because I stupidly put off typing this.

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.

So it seems as though I have become ill once more. At least I am beating the record to how often I used to get sick when I lived in the dorms while attending college. I think I got sick once a month… But then again, dealing with children is bound to catch you a few colds, or in some teacher’s cases… chicken pox! Thankfully I had my share of chicken pox as a child, but I always have a nagging in the back of my head that worries, “maybe it wasn’t bad enough and I can get it again!” A few of my students have come in with what seems to be the end of chicken pox; I wonder why they don’t vaccinate for it.

Vaccinations are done differently in Japan. A lot of my students have these grid-like patterns on their upper arms from the vaccines they were given as children. These patterns end up usually turning into scars that last for the rest of their lives. I have tried to figure out what the vaccines are for, but it seems the majority of them are for TB. Apparently the way they do vaccines here are from some sort of “shot” guns. Stab and squeeze… I guess.

It kind of makes me happy I never had that happen to me. My mother, actually, was diagnosed with being positive with TB when I was a child. The doctor was so very worried because my mother was working at an old folks home and if she was contagious it could mean a pandemic. I took the test and I came up negative so everything ended up alright. But the test I had to take required there to be something (liquid) placed just under my skin. My friend says she had some sort of liquid placed under her skin as well, so maybe her scar is from TB. I just don’t remember there being that many shots for the vaccine… Either way, when I received my TB vaccine, it was just one shot. Both times.

Anyways, I’m going to call that quits for now. I’M SICK.

PROTECT IP/SOPA Breaks The Internet

A video by Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference

Things have been going pretty well lately. I had some bumps in my life early in November. I felt like I was losing a friend–perhaps that friendship is lost. I made some plans and they all slipped through my fingers for one reason or another. It’s been about a month since then but I am still blaming myself for the events that happened–or the events that didn’t end up happening. I guess only time will tell before I learn whether or not the friendship stood the test of that amount of stress and I was worrying and beating myself up for nothing (really, I tend to do that) or if that friendship slipped through my fingers as well. Regardless, the words that were spoken I have taken seriously. As of late I have been finding all the reason in the world to go someplace else and I haven’t been trying nearly as much as I should be. After I returned to Kumamoto I decided to put a little more effort into my time here. I have been trying to hang out with more friends, but honestly I worry that perhaps I am not a person people really want to hang around with. I always feel like I’m the one doing the calling or the texting…

A friend of mine told me not to worry so much about the Japanese language. He tells me most of the people he knows who come here without any prior knowledge of it spend their first year trying to get used to the country and having random fun before they focus on studying and learning the language. He tells me not to beat myself up over not pushing myself more to learn it. Unfortunately I cannot help that. I want to learn more of the language but I don’t have as much motivation as I should. I become discouraged when I get stuck in a sentence or I am not being understood. But I am trying to branch out.

Today I made some new friends and I had a lot of fun. I met them through another friend of mine, the only difference is they do not know English so I am forced to speak and only use Japanese. There is no fall-back language. I hung out with them for about 4-5 hours or so and had a great time. Of course there were bumps in the road when it came to communication, but we were all very patient with one another. We laughed and had fun. I learned some more of the language (though I think it wasn’t committed to memory in terms of use later on… it was more committed to the part of my memory that recognizes it in conversation or when spoken). The friend who introduced us can speak English so when we were all together introducing ourselves I felt nervous to speak Japanese. But when it was just me and the two of them I opened up a little more. Either way, it’s a constant war with language with me.

I joined a kendo group. I have not much to say about it as I haven’t had a lesson yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Later this month my boyfriend will come to Japan. I am excited about that but I don’t know what I am going to show him. A lot of people have requested to meet him which may create some fun in terms of language barriers.

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I’ll never shop Dell again…

I don’t normally like to brag, but I’ve been having problems with Dell since March. I bought a computer back in March but since then have had nothing but problems. I’ve had repairs done on it twice. There are two more issues  that were supposed to be replaced before my departure for Japan but the lady I spoke to on Dell Technical Support must have misunderstood me when I said, “I have dead pixels in the LCD screen you replaced, and I have a component that was damaged in the repair that is jutting into my faulty screen.”

All that happened was an incorrect part was sent which had to be sent back. So, my computer wasn’t fixed before I came to Japan. Dell refused to help me or offer any sort of support for me to help me before I left and refused to give me some sort of compensation for the time I spent that was now lost for naught as well as Dell wasting my time by sending the incorrect part.

In fact, it should be known that today when I called Dell, they put it in my file that one of the broken components had been fixed when that was far from the case. They had to back log and check for the shipping information to realize that it was the incorrect part they sent and thus nothing was fixed. After that they still refused to do much more than what they would do for any Joe shmoe. Things will get fixed, but it’s nice to know that over the past 4 months of my problems with Dell that they aren’t willing to do anything more than what they would for any other person.

It’s unfortunate. I would rather buy a Mac than a Dell.