It suddenly struck me while I was sitting, staring at a computerized Mah Jongg spread when I should have been studying preemptively for Monday's Arabic class. There's a memory from Japan that I've been trying to dredge up for the past month or two and I finally remembered it.
When I was in Japan, I went to Yokohama station for a day. Those who have never been to a major station in Japan don't know what it's like -- more than a mere train/subway/bus station, a station in a large city (I saw 'em in Tokyo, Kyoto and Sapporo as well -- even in a provincial one in south Hokkaido somewhere between Shiraoi and Sapporo) is a gargantuan shopping mall, extending many storeys above and below ground. It's totally shameless and pretty convienient. :) Anyway, I was shopping for omiyage for my family, since it was nearing the end of my stay abroad. I found a store called Watchifield that sold all sorts of cat-aphenalia. I figured it'd be a great place to find some stuff for my mother and sister. For my mother, I got an 'ema' (votive tablet) with the store's furry mascot, Dayan, and a pot of gold coins. For my sister, I got a book.
Now, my sister doesn't read Japanese, but I got her a book anyway. It was a picture book called _Dayan's Nonsense Soup_ or something like that. The illustrations were hillarious and adorable, and I figured she'd get a kick out of such a strange item. The clincher was the page with Dayan and friends standing in front of a Christmas tree, singing carols..The words to the carol were printed in big English phrases: EUROCRAP, EUROCRAP, EUROCRAP SOOOUUUUP!! Even typing it now makes me break out into laughter!
That evening, I met up with my cousin and his fiancee in a restaurant and showed off my shopping booty while we waited for our food. Noriko was reading through the book, charmed and amused, when she got to the Eurocrap page. "This is my favorite!" I announced, hopping over to the other side of the table and pointing at it. She didn't see what I found so great about it. My cousin then explained and she started laughing as well.
Maybe a week later when we were all out together, I spotted a sign for some sort of convention or store about 'Eurodesign'. I poked Noriko and made her look over at the banner. "I know what you're thinking!" she cried and we had another good laugh.
Anyway, I just though I'd share that wish you all.
I've discovered that by listening to Radio Japan Online, I can practice not only my Japanese but my...Urdu?
And to think that my cousin discounted the presence of Pakistanis in his adopted country!
So I'm not exactly sure what to say except to say that I haven't said anything in a long time. Not much has changed. I went back to both TwoMoons and Aether and now have a staffer at the former and a former character at the latter. Everyone's still there that I once knew. Maybe not everyone, but it is nice to catch up with old friends. Right now, Natil @ TM and I are having a discussion about writing. Oh, and I'm still headbanging to the same damn Mizraab album I was last time. My father's getting a tattoo on his arm, so we're going Back-To-Berk (sorry Rushdie) on Friday. I'm still trying to figure out whether to work with George or Kausalya for my thesis. I think I'm kind of on the outs with aunty, though, so we'll see if she's still uncomfortable with me when I come back. I could be wrong, but it did seem like we were having more clashes ending with 'I guess it's just because you're an American' or 'Must be an Indian thing'..It could also very well be that she is not comfortable with the idea that I have a mental illness -- George is very understanding and supportive, but I think it bothers her that Americans talk so openly about such things. I dunno.
We went to Reno (a pack of seven of us -- a guy in a suit, a 6'10" guy, two Koreans named Derek and a Russian cardsharp, commented Maria to Katherine) and had a pretty good time. Katherine and I ran around with disposable cameras shooting cops and bikers and other Reno fun folk while the menfolk dusted off their fake IDs and hit the tables (luckily, making more money than they lost). Mike, of course, managed to land us a luxury suite in the Peppermill for $99 a night (just wait 'til I upload the photos of our pad! It was steady pimpin'!) and paid for about half of our meals (including our gourmet dinner at one of the area's newest, hippest restaurants) with his comp points.
I think I'm going to try an off-season National Novel Writing Month thingy in June, just to see how it goes. After all, other than signing up for summer school and working for the Geisha opening day at the Asian, I'm not doing anything else..