Late night rant

It's 3 in the morning here. I've been awakened by my dormmates being drunk and on a rampage (and on a Monday WTF). I just gotta say that I'm a little bothered by this, I came here to admire the culture and to be better equipped with the language. Most of my dorm mates are straight up weeaboos who just want to say they came to Japan just because they think Japan's cool, having all their meiwaku moments and everything. The campus is 2 buildings and nothing else (pics on the way). I necessarily think of that as a good thing because it derives away from what a normal college would be, a gigantic campus with frats and sororities. I view being in this area a big distraction in and of itself just because there's so much to do in Tokyo. Who needs what some would consider "traditional"? It's different, and I'm all about different. (RANT OVER)

Volunteer opp

The MMA Blog is coming soon, it's tough to word out. I thought I'd use this post to proclaim that I've found something that I feel I could lend an excellent hand to in terms of volunteering: I wish to help out the social phenomenon that is hikikomori.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori

The Cheeseburger

The cheeseburger is a typical American meal (even though it started in Germany) which many Americans like to eat in spite of a quick meal or just to satisfy the appetite. It's always nice to have something like that handy.

I tried Burger King here and it was average, tasted just like the Burger Kings back home.

Yes, that is a beer, you can order a beer just about anywhere here.

The other day, I was getting tired of eating noodles, rice, and fish. So I decide to try a place that I didn't get to try out last time I was here. It's called Mos Burger. The quality and taste reminded me of Jack in the Box.

They put this red sauce on it called Mos Sauce and it's got lotsa onions. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's good. The french fries were average, and the drink was Pepsi Max (Nex is what they call it here). As I chowed down, I realized how this isn't the daily average meal for the Japanese. This is a delicacy for me. The taste of the burger for some reason gave me a fond recollection of home. After I finished, I didn't clean up and leave. I just sat there, thinking about how easy it is to get a burger at home. When here, burger joints are scarce. I felt lucky to experience that sensation from a burger like that.

Top 5 Movies about Americans in Japan

Many Americans get their first taste of what Japan is like by watching these movies. Some may just be down right lame while others carry out a positive influence. Being the huge film buff that I am, I figured I should share these films with you. FYI: The Last Samurai and Fast And The Furious Tokyo Drift? No.

The rules are as follows: The film features an American citizen with both feet on Japanese land.

 

Married man meets married girl, they hang out till he has to go home. The end. Bill Murray's a dick, and Scarlett Johansson is just flat-out annoying (especially her singing ugh), but there is something really special about it because it is liked amongst the average male. I like it just because of the fact that hanging out with a girl and becoming pals is something I can relate to. I was disappointed how culturally unjust they were though.

Tom Selleck's a hell of a guy, (Burt Reynolds Jr. as I like to call him). Shame on Rosie O'Donnell for attacking him on gun control. Jack Elliot gets traded to the Nagoya Dragons after the Yankees canned him. Baseball in Japan is practically as big as basketball in the US, it's been made into it's own kanji (rather than using it as a foreign word). As good ol captain mustache starts out in Japan, he has a few meiwaku moments. But he gets used to the culture and even gets a big philosophy lesson behind swinging at a curve ball. Thing that sucks, he goes back to America to play for the Tigers at the end, but he wears the same cap he did in Magnum P.I.

 

This is the film I based my blog title on. Joe Barrett owned a cafe in Tokyo before the war began, when he got the call of duty, he left. As he was gone, his wife re-married, and there was a little problem with the mob and it comes down to a jiu-jitsu match at the end. Humphrey Bogart can act, no doubt about it. The film in and of itself was Casablanca-esque, but it was flat out cool. This film was the first American film to be shot in post WWII Japan (1949), and I'm glad it was a decent drama rather some screwball film about culture clash.

Ok, just to make sure, I said it has to be a film that features an American in Japan. I didn't say that it had to be an American Film. This was the final Godzilla movie. It was released on the 50th anniversary. One of the main characters was Charles Gordon, who was played by MMA legend Don Frye. Giant radioactive monsters are engulfing the world. Gordon has the idea to use Godzilla against them... it's a fun movie if you're into the whole kaiju movie scene. The awesome thing about this, was the dialogue's in Japanese, except when it comes to Don Frye. He carries on the conversations in English. With an epic mustache like his, you don't need to learn Japanese haha.

 

The Toxic Avenger Part II is a retarded movie, but damn does it cleanse the sadistic humor palette. I'm not going to speak about Troma movies in general. But all I will say is that it's just funny seeing a random "super"hero kick ass in Japan. Toxie attempts to eliminate a corporation, he fails and gets shipped to Japan. Drink a few before watching... trust me. Your sense of humor will thank you. 

Buroggu

I'll save the MMA experience blog for later, til like next time. It was really cool being there though. It was somethin fierce watchin warriors duke it out in Saitama.
The next day after DREAM, I joined TUJ's MMA Club. Until I can support myself and manage spending Yen, I'll stay here cuz it's free! I do really want to check out TSD Kali though.

I wanted to share today a little bit about the classes I'm taking. I'm starting at the beginning with Japanese, I am practically the senpai of the class. I get handed a test and I'm done in less than a minute. Piece of cake.

I'm doing a class on Youth cultures and I get to do a report on a group of the strangest people known to man... the otaku. Super kawaii sunshine happy fun time.
It's an anthropolgy class and everybody wanted to do this topic but I gave the best reason of all, I observe them from afar every year at Sakura-Con (Fancy that would come in handy eh?).

I'm doing an English class... Blegh. The topic for this semester's advertising so it should be ok.

I'm also doing a class that's about Literature & Film during WWII. We've been reading many interesting memoirs from Japanese soldiers including Mishima who's well known for commiting suicide for failing to re-ignite the Empire in 1970 (or something like that) .

I've seen lots of American and Japanese propaganda from the 1940's in that class and as an American it's been a little hard to take in (especially since I'm like the only white guy in the class). I'm a little rattled to say the least. I just gotta ask, why did Tojo have to be a douchebag like Hitler? Seeing all this hate go back and forth between America and Japan from back then just makes me sick. I know it was such a long time ago, that Tojo was a sick and twisted bastard, and that I, myself didn't do anything but it's just tough to look at.

I plan to visit Hiroshima at the end of this semester to pay respects.

Next Blog will be happier I promise.