2007: A Year Truly Worth Forgetting

What can I say about 2007, other than it was a year like no other ... I'll ever experience in my entire life, I hope? I wish I was able to participate in the traditional Japanese "forget-the-year" festivities, but it looks like I'm gonna have to remember and live with what had happened this year indefinitely.

First of all, what the hell did I go through what I went through in Korea for? Why did I have to endure so much flat-out abuse, torment and absolute hatred that I spent most of my days there literally wishing I was dead? I had THOUGHT that it was to get experience so that I could go teach in Japan. Did that happen? No! NOVA just HAD to collapse, and I just HAD to be screwed out of a job at the same time. Good-bye, Japan, forever (other than maybe a vacation), because there's no other way in for a long period of time unless you're fluent in Japanese. That's not gonna happen here. What that means is that I went through all that for nothing. I suffered so much, but no good came out of it at all. What an incredible waste. It wasn't worth the effort and the abuse.

Then, the thing that happened in Japan itself. I came SO CLOSE to finally managing to find a future I could be happy with, and then it just HAD to be yanked away from me, leaving me without a future. (Before anyone suggests I apply for JET, AEON, GEOS or any of those other school chains, I have tried each and every one, and not only did I fail interviews with them, but also there are no more full-time teaching positions remaining in Japan for someone who does not already have a valid work visa, and given I'm unemployed and in America, it's pretty obvious that I do not have one.) People have been suggesting that I try voice acting. I'd love to do that. I'd pursue it like there was no tomorrow if it was possible. But, there's just one HUGE problem that absolutely kills that. Nevermind that I have no connections. I could be close personal friends with every single voice actor and every single person in the industry on the face of the Earth, and it'd still be an unattainable goal, considering I live in the middle of Wisconsin, over 800 miles from the nearest voice acting job market, and chances are my voice will have matured to the point that it is unusable in voice acting by the time I am in any position to move. So much for that. As for plan C, I ask, what plan C? Remaining a part-time job hopper? Being unemployed? Spending every day until I retire knowing that the best is behind and ending up with some crappy, thankless job that I hate doing and then coming home to the same old boring rut? Because unless things seriously fall into place soon, that's what my future holds. Unless there's something even better, than I'm probably never going to be truly happy again if I have to settle for such a fate as plan C.

There are only 17 hours left for 2007 to redeem itself. I doubt it's gonna happen, given all the catching up it has to do. It would take a miracle to salvage this year. When it all comes down to it, if I were to give this year a grade, the best it would get is a D-, but it would more than likely get an F. Any year in which I have to watch as my dreams crumble right before my eyes, leaving me no good options that could lead me to a bright future, the bright future I had worked so hard to try to achieve but is now completely unattainable, doesn't deserve a passing grade in my book.

I can't wait for the new year so that I can put this awful year behind me and hope that in 2008, SOMETHING comes along so that I have something to aim for in life.

A lack of hidden fees isn't enough to make it joyous

Chrismahanukwanzakah is tomorrow, and I just can't seem to get myself out of this sadness ... I'm just heading absolutely nowhere in life. I don't have the talent in any aspect to do anything well enough to gain a decent future, and 2007 has been by far the single worst year of my entire life. Any year that involves me having to take constant abuse for 5 whole months straight and then getting SO CLOSE to finally achieving my dreams only to have had them crushed right before my eyes and then topping it all off with being fired from a CASHIER'S position after only THREE WEEKS can only be classified as a disaster and a total loss, and I've given up on any hope that it's going to end on a positive note, since nothing can turn around this absolutely horrible year other than a miracle, and with just half a month left, I'm not holding my breath. The only good thing that happened in 2007 really was that I got to go to Japan for the last time in my entire life, and all I have to show for my struggle is $1700 worth of debt that I have no way to pay off and a wish that I had never even been put on this Earth. That and a complete lack of any path that I can possibly take now that I'll never become fluent in Japanese (it's not gonna happen in America, and to be in Japan long enough to become fluent, I've gotta get a job there first, which now is impossible without fluency in Japanese) and I live somewhere where the only other thing I don't suck at (voice acting) has no market available, leaving me with literally no options as far as me going anywhere in life. I know I have said this before, but I am positive that the best is behind. There are very few ways that 2008 can be worse than 2007, but I'm not holding my breath for it or any other year in the future to provide something even better than what's already in the past. I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life not satisfied, having come so close to fulfilling my dreams only to have them suddenly become impossible, and never finding anything better or as good, knowing that my peak is in the past already at the tender age of 23. The best is already over; what's left to aim for? What's left to motivate me? What can I even work towards now? I don't have anything to even go towards, no path for me. There is literally nowhere I belong in this world and nothing I belong doing. There is no place for me in the world.

Santa, I know that you're just a trademark of the Coca-Cola Company, but do you think that you could maybe lay a decent future for me under the tree, or at the very least the means to get one and some actual evidence that I actually DO have something that's as good as or better than what's in my past ahead of me?

Holiday cheer, how I desperately search for you ...

This past month and a half, I've felt like absolute garbage. I want to be happy, especially since it's the holiday season (my favourite time of the year, even), but I just can't seem to dig myself out of this incredible feeling of sadness I've felt after seeing my future and my dreams collapse before my eyes. I still don't see any sort of future ahead of me, and even worse, my hopes of going back to Japan for more than just a vacation have been pretty much dashed, since there isn't any way for me to continue to study the language anymore since I've exhausted all the classes that are available, and I can't practise with anyone since no one else I know speaks Japanese well enough for me to do so, leaving me struggling to keep it on life support. With that gone, I don't think there's even anything that's ahead of me that can hold a candle to what I have experienced already. I just wish I could find some sort of hope ...

This Christmas, I am asking for a good future to be ahead of me -- something I can look ahead to in life. Right now, it seems like the best is behind me, and there's nothing ahead of me to look to in the future.

Two days ...

"Barring some tragic problem, the dream will finally happen." (Written on August 24 on this blog)

I think that not being able to find a job due to numerous circumstances qualifies as a "tragic problem."

The crappy part of my life begins in 2 days, and the peak in my life has for sure passed. Nothing exciting enough to top or even match what I experienced when I was 20 can happen in the middle of nowhere in America while doing just an "I'm doing this to make ends meet" type of job until I retire or get let go.

I've gotta figure out how to change the domain name of this blog. Great Teacher Inuzuka is finished forever. It's all over. I cannot be a teacher in Japan now because now that one of the biggest chains of English schools in Japan collapsed, the market is permanently flooded with people who already have work visas, meaning that it is impossible for me to break into it. I just wish I had the skills and means to do another sort of job that could 1- lead me to Japan, and 2- make me feel like 23 years of hard work was actually worth it.

I learned an important lesson today

It all ended today. The years of effort I put into trying to achieve my dream of being a teacher in Japan have officially gone to waste. My "long shot" -- the last chance that I had to get a job here (aside from the interview that even the interviewer considers a long shot), has decided that rather than hiring me, they're going to keep their troublemaking current teacher. So, with only four days left in Japan and only a long shot standing between me and never being able to return to Japan for more than just a short trip, I think it's pretty safe to say that it's all over now. Years and years of struggle have only left me with memories, memories that will never return. My life peaked at 20; I don't see how, without returning to Japan long-term, I can possibly top what I experienced then. That means my life is already on the decline -- another 60-something years of just slow decline, without anything that can even hold a candle to what I experienced when I was 20 ahead of me.

I have learned a valuable lesson from all this struggle. In the seven months I have put forth my best effort to attain a dream, I have learned one thing. Effort gets you NOWHERE. It's not worth it to put forth your best effort because luck, not effort, determines your fate. I've been lied to my whole life; people have constantly told me that if I work hard I will achieve my dreams. That's a lie. If it was the truth, these seven months would have been worth more than some (for the most part, especially in Korea) lousy memories. The way to achieve dreams is through having good luck on your side. Unfortunately, with luck not on my side, my dreams are completely unachievable. I'd better get ready for a relatively lousy life, 'cos a dull, nothing-to-aim-for life is exactly what 23 years of doing everything the hard way has earned me.

I never thought I'd have to write a C&D letter to Lady Luck (not that I can take any action against a metaphorical character), but ...

Dear Lady Luck,

Lately, there have been a few things that you've been doing constantly that have been really getting on my nerves. Therefore, I ask that you stop or at least take it easy on the following four things:

1. Adding "there's a catch" to practically every good thing that comes my way. There are few enough good things that happen to me as it is. Do the few good things that happen to me REALLY need to be diluted with something bad ?!
2. Adding ridiculously high levels of difficulty to literally everything in my life. Things are hard enough without always putting unnecessary roadblocks in my way whenever I try to do anything, from the big things in life to even the smallest tasks.
3. Giving me horrible strokes of luck that really would pretty much never happen to anyone else but still happen to me (losing that job due to an administrative error, for example). Those need to completely vanish immediately. I'm thoroughly sick of those in particular.
4. Making me pay for other people's mistakes. I already have to pay when I make mistakes. Why is it that I always have to be the scapegoat when others make mistakes as well? I've had it with having to take the fall for everyone else all the time.

I want to actually be happy in life, but these two things constantly seem to happen, and it is making it very difficult to enjoy life and actually be happy. Please, knock it off.

Sincerely,
Shintarou Inuzuka

P.S. Give me my hopes and dreams back -- WITHOUT adding the usual ridiculously high level of difficulty -- and I mean NOW. Not after I've already settled down and it's too late. Not after years of having to go through more of these ridiculous roadblocks. Not after more circumstances in which it seems like I finally achieved my goals only to find out that a mistake someone else made ruined the whole thing. I mean RIGHT NOW. I'm serious. I want them back THIS INSTANT. No more hurdles. No more roadblocks. Just give me what I have worked already way too hard to achieve without forcing me to go through even more of this garbage. I've had enough.

GONE!

Well, it only took 5 days to lose a job, but pathetic me did. I am so fucking loser, havng lost a job n 5 days. My future is end today. It is nothing left. I am not do a thng right, and I wish I was die.

Good things are never meant to last

Well, I made it here ... but I've been here all of 4 days, and I suddenly find out that due to a mistake the administration made (they had offered the job to someone else before they offered it to me, but they forgot about it), I'm now up a creek without a paddle. I have just one month to find a new job in Japan. I so far have only one possibility lined up, and unfortunately that means if I don't get the new job fast, it's good-bye dreams and good-bye future. I do nothing else well enough to get any sort of job in America, and I don't speak Japanese well enough to get a non-teaching job in Japan, nor will I EVER speak Japanese well enough to get a non-teaching job in Japan if I don't stay! Once again, other people make huge mistakes, and guess who's the fall guy? Me, that's who.

And so, I must pay the ultimate price of my future for someone else's mistakes. This wouldn't be the first time, but this time, because someone else messed up, I have no future. I have no talents at all that can get me a job where I can feel like I'm actually doing something with my life, and my dreams of staying in Japan, becoming fluent in Japanese and basically living out my life here are completely gone, as without a job, they're impossible to achieve. Every shred of hope that I have had in life is gone. I thought there was even a small bit of hope, but not for me. This whole thing has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt one thing: I am not meant to be happy, and in my life, good things are not meant to last. I am not meant to succeed, and my hopes and dreams are never meant to be. In one month, when I go back to America, I will have nothing going for me; it will be the beginning of a sucky life. I hope that life ends before I go back to America to stay. I'm sick of life.

(I'm still not gonna kill myself, but if someone else does me in, all the better. It'll save me decades of failure and misery.)

Happiness and success for me were never meant to be. I have no future. Someone, please, if in one month's time I have not found something, please just shoot me or something. I'm sick enough of life as it is, but if that happens, I have nothing to look forward to, nothing to aim for and pretty much nothing really to strive for or to get me through the day. All I'll have is memories that will never be relived and dreams that will never come true.

Facing those I left behind

Saying good-bye is sometimes difficult, especially when saying good-bye to the few people who were not part of the problem.

I was out shopping today when I decided to have lunch. Two of the students I had taught at the job I had just quit immediately recognised me and started talking to me. So, we started talking for a little while ... but then one of them asked when I was going to be coming back.

I didn't know how to break it to them. I had said before that only 5 or 6 of the students had any respect for me at all, and here I was with two of them. The truth is, I had made the decision already, and there is no turning back. Aside from them and very few of my other students, all of my students disliked me. All of my co-workers hated me with a passion and thought I was the biggest screw-up going. My boss saw me as troublesome and everything I did as bad. From even before day one, pretty major details (such as the fact that I needed to know Korean to do well in the job) had conveniently not been told to me until it was too late, leaving me in a situation where there were some classes in which I had to come up with an entire lesson and present it in a language they could not understand without any help whatsoever from anyone who knew Korean. Aside from these two and the few other kids I already mentioned, the job had done some pretty major damage to me, to the point where, as many of you might have known, I had seriously wished I had never existed at all and that someone would just kill me already. It's possible I may be banished for life from Korea if my former boss has his way. How do I explain that, though, to a pair of Korean grade-schoolers without them thinking that they were part of the problem when they were two of the very few people involved who weren't?

So, all I had to say is that I had given up. I had run away. I'm off to a far-away country (even though Japan isn't THAT far away) in a few days, and I may never be able to return. I'm not sure if they completely understood the permanence of the situation; unfortunately, they may still be waiting for a long time to come (they still called me their teacher throughout the whole thing). At the end, we exchanged e-mail addresses and said our good-byes.

I didn't say this to them, but my wish is for them to never become like me. I hope that they find the courage to confront their problems rather than running away from them. I hope that they actually find success in life. Above all, I hope they don't end up becoming the messed-up and overall bad person that I am. I hope they never turn their backs on those who care about them. That goes for all of those who I have abandoned. I hope none of them grow up to be the rotten, spineless wimp I've become.

I also hope they don't wait for me. Not only am I probably never going to return, but also, I'm really not worth waiting for, not even for a day.

The only two things I have learned in Korea

There are only two things I have learned in Korea.

1. I am repulsive and morbidly obese. My looks are meant to be either ridiculed or cowered at like I'm some sort of movie monster.
2. I am not a person. I am an object, a tool meant to be used and then thrown away when my usefulness has expired. I have no inherent value; the only "worth" I have is what I can be used for. I am not deserving of the classification "human being," and I do not deserve the dignity or respect that comes with the title. I am an object. That's all I am and all I ever will be.

I'm probably going to be banned for life from Korea on Saturday. However, given the experiences I've had here, especially these past 2 months, I say good riddance. Let 'em throw me away. I am of no use to the Korean people, and after all, I am an object with no inherent worth besides what I can be used for, so who am I to protest or otherwise try to stop 'em?

I can't wait until I go to Japan and can put these horrible memories behind me forever. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that this experience has left scars that will never heal.

Full speed ahead!

Today, I got the visa packet and a confirmation e-mail saying that the job is mine! I start September 3rd. I'm really excited about this! Finally, a job I can do in a place where I actually feel accepted as a person!

All I gotta do now is get the materials needed, send the visa packet, quit my current, impossible job, get the plane tickets (tomorrow), send my stuff, pack and go!

It took a lot of effort and a lot of waiting, but it finally happened. I have a teaching job in Japan. Barring some tragic problem, the dream will finally happen.

An end and a new beginning?

Here's the situation. It's pretty much a safe bet now that my days are numbered at this current job. At both schools, it appears that new, bilingual teachers have been hired. This most likely means that the boss is putting the pieces in place for my dismissal.

However, I just recently got accepted to teach English at a school in the Kinki region of Japan. This is a very good situation for me, since I actually speak Japanese, meaning not only can I actually function in society but unlike in my current job, when someone asks me a question in their native language, I no longer have to answer every question with "I don't understand what you're saying!" (I can speak the Kansai dialect as well, so even that shouldn't be too much of a problem.) I might actually have the chance to be a somewhat effective teacher in a setting that's more suitable for me.

That doesn't mean I hate it in Korea. There are lots of things that I have enjoyed while I've been here. This situation, though, where I've had to magically become fluent in Korean in a ridiculously short amount of time (not to mention having to endure constant insults about the way I look, something that I'm very sensitive about but will take months to change unless I do something drastic and dangerous, which wouldn't be a good idea), has not been a good one. Hopefully this new situation will be a reality -- and one where it's actually possible for me to succeed.

An open letter to the taxi drivers of Gwangju, South Korea

Attention all taxi drivers:

Lately, I have been experiencing some incredibly rude, childish and immature behaviour on the part of several of you who I have hired to take me to work. My expectation when I enter a taxi is that you will bring me to my final destination and give me the respect that any normal human being deserves, and if I specify any particular roads, that you take them as long as the turn that I give you is not illegal. In return, it is reasonable to expect that I pay you the money that the meter indicates that I owe you. Therefore, I would like the following behaviours, which I have been on the receiving end of several times, to cease, effective immediately:

1. Complaining, chewing me out, insulting me or otherwise being a pain about where I want to go or the directions that I ask you to take. First of all, the second you start the meter, you're on my time. I don't give half a rat's ass where YOU want the intended destination to be; go there on your own time. As long as that meter is displaying any amount other than zero, you have entered into a business agreement with me in which you take me all the way to my intended destination, and you get paid in proportion to how far you drove. Any deviation from that on your part is breaking your end of the bargain, and spending the entire drive bitching and moaning about where you have to take me is not only unprofessional but incredibly rude. The intended destination and the way to get there is as non-negotiable as the fare; if you want to complain to my face about the destination and start shouting put-downs at me, then I have every right to complain to your face about the lousy service I'm getting and to tell you to shut the hell up and to stop acting like a baby. By becoming a taxi driver, unless you are a complete idiot, you should have assumed that your job would be to take people to where THEY want to go, not just destinations that are close to some place where you can easily stop and pick up a snack or something. Also, just looking at me, you can easily tell that I am not Korean, so the fact that I am making an effort to speak in your language should be met with far more respect than whining and insulting me. I'm not asking for worship or to be "above you;" I'm just asking that you do not talk down to me. In addition to this, I have not been in the city for years and years and years, so it is ridiculous to expect that I know 50 bazillion ways to go between my apartment and work (not to mention there aren't that many ways to and from work to begin with). I am a human being, not a dog turd that you scraped off your shoe; I expect to be treated like the former rather than the latter. The way you have been treating me is acting like you're doing me a favour and getting no compensation for it. If that's what you really want -- if you want it to be you just doing me a favour and you getting nothing in return or if you want the destination to be where you want to go instead of where I want to go, then don't bother starting the meter or asking me for money at the end. I'm starting to wonder if you act this way towards other Koreans ...

2. Trying to dump me off before my intended destination when I am telling you to go the whole way. I am paying you to go all the way to the end. In addition to that, my leg is injured, as you can clearly see by the fact that I am walking around on crutches. I can understand if you think that it is the intended destination, but the obvious eagerness to get rid of me is incredibly rude. If I were doing something like kicking your seat the whole way or loudly singing the song that gets on everybody's nerves or if I smelled like a foot, I'd be a bit more lenient with this, but considering that I shower and that unless I'm drunk (which is never true when I'm on my way to or from work, which has been the case almost every time this has happened), I'm generally well-behaved in the taxi, so there is no excuse for this.

3. Taking wrong turns/turning early/turning late when I'm giving you instructions in Korean or completely ignoring my directions altogether. Stop assuming that I "meant" the other direction. I know "left" and "right" in Korean, and I am telling you "left" and "right" in Korean. If I did not know them, I'd just say them in English and hope for the best. To assume I meant the other direction seems like a thinly-veiled excuse to just go wherever you want instead. Also, the world is not Windows Vista. I should not be asked to confirm over and over whether "left" or "right" is actually the direction that I want to go. The fact that I have to confirm about 10 times whether or not what I said is indeed which direction that I want to go has caused lots of missed turns, leading to me getting lost. In addition to that, unless I had specified it before, when I say "turn left/right," I mean "turn left/right here," not "turn left/right whenever the hell you feel like it, whether it's one street past where I want to go or somewhere a couple of hours down the road." Once again, I refer you to the fact that by starting the meter, you are on my time, and you are to go wherever I want you to go. I am not hiring you guys to drive me to some random place and leave me there. I am hiring you to drive me to a specific destination of my choosing. I am very particular about where I want to end up, and I should be because that's the entire reason why I'm paying you to drive, and if you are not willing to live up to your end of the deal, it is unreasonable to expect me to live up to my end of the deal.

If you don't like the idea of driving people to where they want to go, you should not have become taxi drivers, as the job description is to bring taxi drivers to their respective destinations. When I am spending money on a taxi, I am paying for a drive to where I want to go. I am NOT paying for a situation where I'm constantly belittled and otherwise treated like garbage all because of some whiny, immature driver who doesn't like the fact that he has to drive me to work instead of somewhere he wants to go. If I was that desperate for more belittling and more insults, I would encourage my students to tell MORE fat jokes instead of discouraging them altogether. If you want to go there, go there in your own car, and don't ask me to pay you to take me to someplace other than where I want to go. The fact that you're acting this way towards me is ridiculous and babyish, and if you're not going to show me even a basic level of respect, why should I show you any respect? The terms of the agreement that you're entering into by starting the meter are that you bring me to wherever I want to go, and in return, I pay you. If you don't like those terms, then by all means, feel free to not start the meter. I wouldn't mind a little complaining if the ride was completely free. However, the fact that I am paying for it means that I should not be having to take crap from some stranger. To those of you who are not engaging in such immature behaviour, thank you for your services and your politeness. However, for those of you who are, listen up, and listen well: you have no right to treat me the way you have been treating me. You are not doing me an uncompensated favour. Stop acting like you are.

Sincerely,
Shintarou Inuzuka

Are you sure it's Dunkin' Donuts?

Sometimes, a class has just gotta have some fun.

Once in a while, the classes I'm teaching like to play games, which is particularly okay with me when they're at least using English, since then at least I've got their minds working in English. A couple of days ago, it was Pictionary. One of the students was trying to get across "Dunkin' Donuts." She had a really good strategy: she was going to try to get "dunkin'" out of them by drawing a "donkey." However, it was confused with a horse ... but the trouble is, one of the students didn't know how to pronounce "horse" correctly ... so she started yelling "Whore! Whore!" It took all the willpower I had not to laugh. In the end, they ended up getting it right before the buzzer.

A much-needed update

Okay ... you may be wondering where I've been the past 2 months. Here's basically a summary of what's happened and what's going to happen soon, barring any problems.

After getting let go from my old job, I spent the next 2 weeks looking for a job. I finally found one in the southern part of South Korea in an English academy.

The trouble is, unlike my previous job where the use of Korean was forbidden, the fact that I know basically no Korean at all is a distinct disadvantage in this job, as the teachers are encouraged to use Korean in the classroom. However, aside from that and a few other problems (mainly this group of boys in one of my classes fist-fighting throughout the whole class as well as the fact that I get called fat, pregnant or ugly on a daily basis), things are going okay. I have a trip to Osaka planned in a few days, which will be a nice getaway despite the fact that I injured my leg; hopefully that'll heal at least enough that walking around Osaka won't be too painful.

So, basically, no, I'm not dead. ^_^

It's all over.

I know probably no one reads this blog anyway, but my last blog entry will probably be this month; in fact, this might very well be my last blog entry here. I got let go from my job. Since there's basically no possible way I can get re-hired elsewhere in 30 days, this is where my adventure ends. It's been a great ride, but today, "Great" Teacher Inuzuka is dead. (Note the quotation marks; I'm not great -- just the opposite.) The ride is over.

Where will I go from here? I'll tell you exactly where I'll go from here. Since finding a job in 30 days or less is going to be next to impossible, on July 1st (or around that date), I will be going back home, where every day for the next ... well, eternity ... will consist of getting up early, looking for jobs, going in for interviews and being rejected by every company, all the while feeling like the job search is never going to end, and I am never going to amount to anything. If I'm lucky, I can find some dead-end job where I work for just barely enough to scrape by, and my life will be incredibly dull and stressful, but at least not as bad as being at home. Still, even that's reserved for those with talent and/or experience.

Either way, nothing even remotely noteworthy is ever going to happen to me again, and certainly no lucky breaks will come my way, so this blog will probably end with either this post or another one later this month or on the day I leave. From today, I have 30 bearable days left in my life.

Someone, please end my life right now. I'm begging you. Please do not let me live to see July 1st.

I don't belong here. There's not a single place on the face of the Earth where I belong. Please, someone, rid the world of my presence.

This is Shintarou Inuzuka signing off. Good-bye.

After less than 2 months, the dreaded 3-month evaluation

Whether or not my teaching career will continue all comes down to today's music class. Only a score of 75% or higher is acceptable.

Murphy's Law states that one of three things will happen.

1. The class is especially rowdy, and I cannot control them. I fail the evaluation for not being able to control the kids.
2. The class is so young that they cannot understand a word I say. I fail the evaluation for not being able to get them to do/say anything.
3. There are no students in the class, and I have to do the class for the evaluators! This makes it impossible to pretend the evaluators are not there, and I crack under the pressure and fail the evaluation. (As this is probably the worst of the three, as the evaluator will most likely simulate one of the above two scenarios, and I won't have anywhere to look other than the evaluators who are constantly writing notes, this is also the most likely according to Murphy's Law.)

My whole career rides on a loophole in Murphy's Law other than dumb luck.

I buy sausage ... in Tokyo!

I just got back from my trip to Japan; it was a lot of fun! I spent 3 days there, and ... here's sorta a play-by-play of my trip.

Day 1

I arrived at around 2 in the afternoon at Narita Airport and then proceeded to take the Narita Express to Shinjuku, where I put my stuff in my room and headed to Nakano Broadway.

Nakano Broadway is like the shopping mall for otaku, selling everything from figurines to DVDs (used ones are REALLY cheap) to cosplay outfits. I bought an Inuyasha DVD as well as a school uniform jacket and a few bottles of temporary hair dye (which will complete several different cosplays I wanted to do -- the one pictured here is me as Yuri Shibuya from Kyou Kara Maou). I also went back the next day to get another DVD, but unfortunately that got lost. I got lots of manga there.

After that, I went to O-daiba and went on the giant ferris wheel there. If I remember correctly, the ferris wheel goes up to 105 metres, and it's possible to see a large amount of the Tokyo skyline from there. I then proceeded to Tokyo Leisure Land in Palette Town (yes, it really is called Palette Town, and yes, I did become a Pokemon Master there), where I did some bowling, played some games ... and got locked in! So, I went to the karaoke area and sang all night.

Day 2

The day started with me going to Kaminarimon in Asakusa. Kaminarimon is a large shopping district that's made to look like a typical shopping district in old Japan (I think it's supposed to be the Meiji Era or somewhere around there, but it might be even all the way back to the feudal era.) I did a bit of shopping there ... but then proceeded to forget all of it on the train. T_T However, I also made a stop off at a temple and got my fortune (mine was "kichi" 吉, which is good fortune and -- I think -- the second highest possible result). So, after that, I went on to Nakano again to pick up a few more things, and then it was off to Akihabara.

For those of you who didn't know, Akihabara is pretty much the Mecca of otaku. Anime is everywhere, and so are maid cafes. I spent a few hours at a maid cafe, where I talked to one of the maids and ended up playing darts against her (we each won one game, but as far as I'm concerned, I was the big winner in the end ^_~). After that, it was back to Shinjuku for anime and another all-night karaoke party.

Day 3

I was sick. T_T Most of the day was spent recovering, and then I went back to Shinjuku station, where, unfortunately, they did not have the stuff I lost. I ended up going back on the Narita Express back to the airport and going back. It wasn't exactly the most interesting day, but it was the least rushing I've ever had to do when leaving from Narita Airport.

So, I'd say it turned out quite well.

And now, your moment of Zen.

I BUY SAUSAGE!

Lucky Star in Akiba!

The entire photo album can be found here.

Welcome.

Welcome to The Chronicles of Shintarou Inuzuka. This blog should keep you all informed of my various adventures both in South Korea and anywhere else I might go.