Updates, advisories, surprises...

Four months is quite a long time to go without writing some sort of update, but to my credit, it has been a very pear-shaped third of a year. I will first dive into the shockingly bad bits, and then move on to the surprisingly good bits that have precipitated out of the quagmire in which I've found myself recently.

To begin with, this is being written from my home office in America. It follows, being that I sadly lack any appendage capable of spanning the Pacific, that I am also in America, and that things in Japan went horribly wrong. Indeed they did, but not for reasons that I, or anyone else, could have really anticipated. Effective as of November, I was forced to withdraw from the Waseda study abroad program, primarily on account of my somehow catching pneumonia.

It has hard to describe in any sort of tangible fashion the utter sense of loss and disappointment that I felt over this. Seeing three years' worth of preparation get flushed down the toilet didn't exactly make for the best Christmas that I've ever had. It's certainly taken all of four months to get back on my feet again, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

So, that ends the ugly bits. Or at least, the ugly bits I'm willing to divulge publicly. Now it's time for the good news: This is actually going to work out better in the long run.

Wait... what?

First, now that I'm not forced to take a large portion of my classes in English, I've been able to focus much more heavily on my language studies. My scholarships covered all of the expenses that I incurred while studying in Japan, which means that my remaining savings can be applied to doing all the travel that I was hoping to accomplish... er, sometime.

So, I leave in less than a month for Taiwan and Korea, after which I'll be going back to Japan for a month or two. Thankfully, Professor Masuyama, my Japanese instructor back at CSUS, has been very understanding about the whole situation, and so she's managed to put a package together that will allow me to complete my second bachelors' degree in Japanese while I'm doing all this traveling. Plus, I should still have enough dosh remaining at the end of the semester to fund my way across Europe.

The icing on the cake is that the friends I made, both at Waseda, and in the NSEP Boren program have made all of this possible. I'd love to name everybody here, but that's an awful lot of work, so all I can say is that I'm really grateful for all the people who supported me.

So, overall, things have worked out better. I'm not broke, not dead, and I'll get to see a lot more of the world than I originally planned.

Oh, and I have less than a month to learn Korean. But that's a subject for the next post.

Life is shaky and rough, but still good.

Growing Pains.

Japan has growing pains, which manifest themselves as earthquakes. My first experience with one of these happened a few days ago, when my room started shaking without having a particularly good reason for doing so. That said, it was a very minor quake, but it was still a surprisingly frightening experience. My own growing pains are much less earth-shaking, but much more valuable to me in terms of seeing how far I can push my own limits.

Learning a foreign language has really made me appreciate the sheer amount of ability that human beings are born with, and living with a host family has made me really appreciate the value of having my own apartment. But, first things first: Reading a newspaper in Japanese is hard.

I'm taking two classes that focus heavily on reading comprehension, the second of which is literally titled 'Reading Japanese Newspapers'. The professor is an old man with a very good sense of humor, and I'm hoping his grading is somewhat lax, because the course content is nigh impossible. We get to read three or four articles per week, which isn't so bad, but on the day of class, we're given new articles and asked to write summaries that are approximately one-third the length of the original articles.

And, before you go off thinking that we're getting fluff pieces, know that the instructor has a hard-on for politics. So, we get a small piece on culture, maybe something else on society, and then a long-ass article on the current political climate in Japan. These are easily the heaviest articles, kanji-wise, and the number of names thrown into the mix complicates things even more, as the readings for names are slightly different. Add to that a hell of a lot of nomenclature specific to Japanese politics, and you get a very, very tough course. That said, I feel like I'm going to learn a lot this semester, and I now appreciate why the Japanese people didn't like their last prime minister very much.

I'm also thinking about getting an apartment after this semester. Living with a host family is really, really improving my Japanese, and it is nice being able to ask them about homework, but it does make... cordial relations somewhat difficult. That, and I really want control over my own diet, as my host family eats a light breakfast, and a very late, and very large dinner, which is the exact opposite of what I need for my training. They're really wonderful people, though, so I want to make sure that I don't piss them off when I move out... I'll probably need to come back and give weekly English lessons to their kids as a way of apologizing.

The English-language classes are laughably easy, from the looks of it, so I'm at least able to focus on Japanese during the week, and fun on the weekends.

Not sure what else to write; not much has happened. Life is still good.

Homeless in Japan.

Well, I think that stating that my study abroad hasn't started off on the most solid of footing might qualify for a nomination for the 'Understatement of the Year' award. Due to absolutely no fault of my own, and a story that will likely need to remain classified until all those who remember it are dead and gone, I ended up spending my first week in Japan... well, homeless.

While this might sound quite fun to some of you, in reality it's a huge pain in the ass.

To add insult to injury, renting an apartment here is an exercise in pain and frustration. First off, the real estate people don't want to talk to you, so bring a Japanese friend. Second, be prepared to pay about a months' worth of rent in 'reikin' (legal extortion) to the 'fudousan' (real-estate yakuza). Third, they say they will clean the place for you, but it seems more accurate to say that they'll *think* about cleaning the place, while spending your 'reikin' on cocaine and hookers. And, finally, even if you jump through the hoops, your apartment will be given to someone else.

There are temporary housing options available, but they are all quite expensive.

Fortunately for me, a friend of mine (Keith) was willing to put me up for a week or two until I managed to get a place put together. What's even better, is that Keith is shacking up at an apartment attached to a gourmet udon shop, and so I've had gourmet udon and free beer for the past week or so, as well as a really fun set of people to talk with. Even more... uh... betterer is that, as of yesterday, I have a new host family, courtesy of a ton of hard work on behalf of our resident director (Kazaoka-sensei) and so my days of being a bum are at an end. And, my new host family is in Shibuya, so I can almost walk to school... and stagger home when need be.

So, all in all, being homeless hasn't been that bad, really, and things are looking up.

The CSU group went out for an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki run two nights ago, and when we sat down, the staff brought out a veritable mountain of meat. I'm not entirely sure, but the entire cast of Charlotte's Web might have been sacrificed for the sake of our dinner. Oh, and the raw egg is essential, and makes the sukiyaki taste so much better. Afterwards, everybody did the usual and headed out to the Hub, where Dustin proceeded to drink them our of Jagermeister. Thanks a lot, you jackass. *grin*

Other than that, school has yet to start, so I have very little to report on the academic front.

Life continues to be good. :)

Tokyo Sunrise

Well, after more than a few years of waiting, working, and perhaps several other words that begin with the letter 'w', I've returned to... well, perhaps my second home. The flight over was less heinous than I remember previous flights being, and I'm hoping that my new habit of getting five hours of sleep and getting up at five-thirty in the morning is some kind of travel-induced mutant superpower, and not just the residual effects of jet lag.

Partially because, even though I like sleep, I really hate losing my day to a ten-o'clock nuclear blast from the alarm clock, and so maybe this will be a fruitful new trend for me. On the flip side, I'm thankful my current roommate is patient, because he has to put up with me getting up about an hour after he goes to bed. Sorry, Erek.

The past few days have been a pile of meetings and tours around Tokyo, courtesy of a mix of Nijinokai and WIC students. Both groups are awesome, and I'm going to be more hard-pressed than Rush Limbaugh's easy chair to choose one over the other. The current round of orientations is solely for CSU students, so I haven't yet met any of the other aliens, but that said, we have a pretty awesome group this year, and I'm happy that I've now got no shortage of drinking buddies. *grin*

There are a few people here with experience in Japan; my roommate has been bouncing in and out of the country for years, and is skilled to the point of being totally self-sufficient. Several of the other people have done homestays before, and I've spent some time here as well, so between the lot of us, I think the CSU group will be well-represented. That said, apparently the CSU group had a reputation for being... well, drunken slackers, to be frank, but last year's group surged forward academically, and we are expected to continue in this fine new tradition.

Thanks a lot for ruining the curve, David, you jackass.

Since I've traveled in Japan a fair amount, and learned quite a bit by pissing off half the country during said travels, I don't feel displaced at all. Of course, I'm not fluent, and there are still some minor linguistic barriers to break down, but that said, I don't have any of the sense of worry that I had the last two times I came here. Moreso, Tokyo feels familiar now, and when I walk around, I keep seeing familiar places, names, and coffee beverages, and so there's absolutely no sensation of being in a crazy world.

The first-timers all seem to feel entirely different, of course.

Hell, I even don't mind getting lost now, and I've found a couple of fun, cheap restaurants by doing so.

Speaking of cheap -- compared to my last two trips, I'm spending almost nothing! It's odd that, in a country where one is deluged from all angles by a firehose-like spray of advertisements, that I have almost no impetus to purchase anything. All my meals have been at cheap holes-in-the-wall (or free), I've spent very little on alcohol, and rather than using the train to get everywhere, I'm having a go with walking as much as I can -- which means I discover more. I think my only impulse buy was some nodoame, and even that was because I want to try and ward off that inevitable cold that everybody gets once they arrive.

So, here's to a fantastic year!

Fresh blackberries are amazing.

I think the last time that I had actual blackberries was when I was in
the fifth grade. And keep in mind, these are the real thing, not some
frozen month-old test-tube grown mutations that were bought from the
store. Real blackberries, picked from the vine, and then washed to
remove the blood, because blackberry plants draw more blood from me in
an afternoon than an entire platoon of vampire nurses could in a week.

Blackberries. Such a simple thing, really, and yet such a source of
incredible joy.

Simplicity itself is likewise amazing. My present life-simplification project,
at which I've been plodding away for a month, has been incredibly rewarding.
Even over such a short period of time, the benefits have been just...
incredible. As part of this, I've been throwing away things that I've kept 'just
in case', but in reality will never use, and a shocking number of these things
are crap that I paid perfectly good money for, used once or twice, and then
tossed in a box.

The amount of money I've wasted over the years is truly shocking. Given
compound interest, I've probably blown enough cash to buy a reasonably
nice, small house. Some of this has been on very worthwhile things,
like my first trip to Japan, but most of it has been an utter waste,
like a Handspring PDA (remember those)?, a bluetooth headset that I
never use, and a ridiculous amount of dining out.

Getting rid of all this junk has been in many ways very theraputic, and
inspiring in my goal to lead a more frugal life. As a side benefit,
I've almost stopped eating out entirely, and because of that alone, I've
managed to drop five pounds of bodyfat. It really is amazing how
utterly bad even the 'healthy' options at restaurants are for you.

The biggest hurdle is in adding a mental block to the process of 'see -
want - spend'. Making it a point to add a 'stop' between the 'want' and
'spend' has been incredibly difficult, but I find that if I take the
time to reason out the purchase, I more often than not don't make it.
Taking the time to think has also given me a greater awareness of where
my money was going, which is good, because I've paid my cashflow very
little attention over the past few years.

Additionally, when I do need to buy something, I hunt around for the
cheapest price for an appropriate item. That isn't to say I only buy
the shoddiest stuff in existence; rather, I think sensibly about what my
needs are, which is how I managed to save $100 on my car cover, $300 on
a carport, nearly $500 on a new server, and so on.

So, in short, stopping before spending, and hunting for bargains, has
not only been fun, but I like how my bank balance isn't rocketing
downward like the housing market. Because less crap is purchased,
there's less crap to deal with, and thus less resultant stress.

As always, life is good.

One is an oddly powerful number, as it really is the number out of which
all other numbers are built. In a sense, one divides reality from
nothingness, a checkpoint on the path to infinity, no matter what way
you're going. Start swinging a decimal point around, and you get a nice
cascading series of ones, all crashing down upon the zero that lies in
wait at the end.

One month remains until I leave, and as time marches forward,
that will give way to one week, then one day, and so on, until finally
the last single unit of Planck time gives way and I am no longer waiting
to leave, and am instead on the path to wherever I end up.

Of course, I know where I'm going, and I hope that the same can be said
of the flight crew.

In all truth, I'm not even going anywhere exotic. After all, it's not
like I haven't already spent a respectable amount of time in the land of
sushi and robot cartoons, and Japan is certainly equal to the United
States in terms of technology, junk food, and rubbish television
programming. So for me, the thrill of departure isn't as much linked to
the joy of discovery, as it is the feeling of going home.

This is in no way because I think of myself as Japanese. I think that
steak, bacon'n'eggs, and cheap mexican food are some of the greatest
creations known to mankind, and I am not looking forward to spending a
year without the opportunity to directly and personally contribute to
global warming and the looming oil crisis.

But at the same time, a part of me feels like it's going home. It's
utterly impossible to describe, so I won't even try. I will say that
right now, I would happily trade a human life of in exchange
for a hot bowl of fresh chashuu ramen with a big pile of negi on top.

Preparations have been going well. I have finally vanquished Windows
XP Pro, and so my parents have new computers, which I can fix remotely
in case they break. This is a very real concern, as they call me almost
weekly for some form of assistance, and this way I don't need to worry
about paying David to come over all the time to fix things, as much as I
know he'd love that.

New hard drives have arrived and been loaded with data, backups have
been made of everything important, required files have been digitized
and encrypted, and so on. Even got a surprise visit from both Sarah
*and* my oldest nephew, which on a scale from one to ten, definitely
ranks above going on a date with Dick Cheney.

All is well, and I can actually sit down and really focus on Japanese
until I leave.

Well, that, and the process of getting a company off the ground. Just
that little thing.

Most people, when they go to study abroad, just have to deal with the normal things, like 'moving money between countries', 'finding a good deal on a plane ticket', and 'learning to convince the natives that Americans are not edible'.

Of course, me being the blithering idiot that I am, I've got to go and muck with that basic formula.

See, I've got a fairly comprehensive home network, and since I won't be able to physically access anything over here for a year, I decided to do some upgrading. Picked up a new server for a price that bordered on theft, with a warranty that would permit me to machine-gun the unit and have it repaired with no questions asked. Set up a new OS on the machine, as Debian Etch was released not-too-long-ago, and I've set about rebuilding all the workstations in the house to run the same build of WindowsXP Pro, as roaming profiles will guarantee that the users of said workstations can continue to play Solitare if a unit craps out while I'm gone.

Yeah, I work in IT. That's pretty obvious.

This in-and-of itself wouldn't be too heinous, but I've also got to at least /pretend/ to study Japanese, as well as deal with all the little things relating to banking, credit cards, bills, and whatnot, before I leave for the Land of the Rising Vending Machine. Oh, and I'm spending the summer working as a contractor for one of my previous employers, fixing all the buggy code that I wrote three years ago.

From this whole process, I have learned two very important lessons.

One, I'm glad I'm better at eating humble pie right now, as I wrote some really rubbish stuff back then. Actually, I have to take that back; my code isn't bad, but the system that I and my former boss (Richard) put together was very, very complicated. Even though I'm one of the bloody architects of this monstrosity, I still have only a vague idea how it works, and this is Not Good. So, one big lesson for the future that I'm going to incorporate into all future programming and/or systems projects: First Spec, Then Build, And Document Like A Tabloid Reporter On Crack.

Two, I have been doing a horrible job of managing my time. I'd spend an hour combining four separate systems' home directories into one sensible mass, an hour trying to study the /kyoiku kanji/ (all of the chinese characters that Japanese schookids get to learn by the time they finish the 6th grade), an hour juggling paperwork for my 401(k), and at the end of it all, I'd actually get very little done, which is frankly quite depressing.

When I sat back and actually thought about it, the problem became pretty obvious. See, computers nowadays are capable of doing more than one thing at a time, which we call multitasking. The way this works is that, behind the scenes, the processor in your computer is running each open program for a few nanoseconds, then freezing it and running the next program in its run queue. All of this switching between programs is called context switching, and computers are very, very good at it -- it all happens so fast that you never really notice at all.

As I have found out through experience, humans are very bad at context switching.

Try it sometime -- get five novels, and try to read each of them, a page at a time, in order. Doesn't work very well, does it?

So, I tried something new. Even though I've got about a hoozillion things to finish before I leave, I make it a point to get one important thing done, every day.

Just one.

And you know what?

It's working. I've gotten more done in the past two weeks than I have in the past two months.

I've also stopped trying to have any sort of prioritized inbox on my desk. Instead, I've got a big 'In' pile, that I deal with once every week or two. Not only has this proven to be drastically less stressful, but again, I seem to get a hell of a lot more done.

Fire and movement. It really does work.

Simplification has also been making my life easier -- I'm finally throwing out or giving away all the whoozits, gizmos, and thingamagiggers that I've managed to accrue over the years, as well as the metric ton of old computing hardware that I've been using to keep my garage floor from flying off into outer space. I've kicked all the non-essential tasks off my TODO list, because it really doesn't matter if I manage to save 10G of HD space by re-encoding my video collection. All of my data is finding its way into one home directory. I've given up control over my mail and web service, and I'm posting my blog here, rather than on a custom piece of blogging software that I've written, because honestly: Do I really care that things aren't *exactly* the way I want them to me?

Three years ago, I cared. Now, I don't, and I have to say, I'm thrilled.

So, I've got less stuff and more time, and I feel better, because I'm getting things done at a blitzkrieg pace.

In short: Life is good.