This article makes me really happy!

"Shinkansen" is the high-speed rail system in Japan, or the "bullet train" system made famous by the Nagano Olympics in 1998.  While they are still slower than flying to locations when you compare actual flight times versus rail times, once you add in check-in time, etc., high speed rail is about the same time (depending on the distance you're traveling, of course).  Think about it - since I was a kid, I'd had it drilled into my head that you should arrive at the airport approximately 2-3 hours before your flight is scheduled to depart.  So even the very short time it takes to fly from Chicago to Washington, D.C., (approximately 1:45), it in fact takes 4:15.  In Japan, the same distance is covered in about 6:30 - but the entire time you are on the transport vehicle, having a kind of ridiculously smooth ride, and you are most likely to arrive in the central station of the city, not an airport situated 30-60 minutes from your destination within the city.

But there are differences in these forms of travel.  In comparison to some high-speed trains in Europe, Japanese shinkansen don't offer luggage check-in - you must be able to roll/carry your bag onto the train and fit it somehow within your seating area, either in the small overhead racks they have or around/under your seat.

The other difference is that the due to the Japanese culture and relative lack of crime, there is no security check (though there are security guards looking for any strange behavior around the train platforms, etc.) - no x-ray for bags, no metal detectors, nothing.  When I took EuroStar trains between Paris and London, I believe there were security checkpoints, but they were minimal and very quickly done (though that might be because it was Europe and not the U.S.).

Another difference is the transportation industry costs in Japan vs. the ones in the States.  A shinkansen ticket is almost always of a comparable price to that of a plane ticket to the same destination - and that doesn't mean it's cheap.  For example, a flight from Sendai to Hiroshima (comparable to the distance between Chicago and Washington, DC), is around $250-$290 at any given time.  A shinkansen from Sendai to Hiroshima has about the same cost - $250.  However, in the States, companies like JetBlue, Southwest, etc., offer prices as low as $60 sometimes for flights from Chicago to Washington, DC.  So if this railway idea is to be successful, this means that AmTrak has to be able to offer prices comparable to these airlines, if not better.  Which is another problem, because in all other countries, railway ticket costs are constant, they don't fluctuate over time the way airline ticket prices do.

While I'm excited about the prospects of bullet train travel in the U.S. (it really is pretty great - smooth, comfortable, easy, fast, energy efficient, and really, really reliable), I'm worried about whether we can carry it off with the same efficiency as other countries, and if the proposed system can combat the American way of always seeking the cheapest cost to yourself.  Ah well.  I'm still enthusiastic and excited for it!

...That's Japanese for "long time, no see", in case you were wondering.

Anyway...I haven't posted in a long time...but I really wanted to post this because I think it's important to talk about it and the great shame that ideas like this are still present in our country.  The fact that she is an elected official and has the gall to say such a thing about a country built upon people coming to the nation with diversity, ranging from ethnicity to education to ideas, is mind-boggling.  She said "you and your citizens".  Can we analyze that comment for a moment?  If they're voting in the United States, they are UNITED STATES CITIZENS.  Meaning they are her FELLOW citizens.  Then let's talk about the fact that she is telling Asian-Americans that they should have names that are easier for "Americans to deal with".  So she's saying that these Asian-Americans, who are eligible to vote either through official naturalization or birth, are not "real" Americans.

Not only is she not being asked to say any names or read any, she is arguing on behalf of voter identification legislation, meaning that NOBODY has to worry about saying those names unless they personally meet citizens with "difficult" names - the only thing that happens in voter identification is they check your name against your driver's license/passport/I.D....they just have to check spellings, in other words and perhaps type it out again in some official document.  Meaning the people who work in voter identification offices only have to be able to read and type.  NOT be fluent in any other sort of language.  This woman is absolutely ridiculous and entirely racist.

EDIT//
So, after more evidence, I have to be fair and say that she really wasn't being very racist, though there is a certain American ignorance/arrogance in her tone.  The article I posted above gave a rather unfair, completely antagonistic slant to it.  They were actually discussing the transliteration of naturalized citizens' names and the problems that arise with this - from the fact that naturalization documents are sometimes lost or put into tediously-reopened safekeeping places, to the fact that upon naturalization names are transliterated one way, but over time the individual might change the way they transliterate their name because they discover there is an easier way to romanize their name and have people read it more closely to the proper pronunciation, to the fact that many Asian-Americans will adopt western names/nicknames in order to fit in and have an easier time in social situations.  So the problem arises when a person goes to vote and runs into one of the following problems: 1) they do not have the naturalization document or 2) the name on their I.D. (the adopted name and/or newly spelled romanized name) does not match that of the one on their naturalization papers.  In some states this means the voter could be completely turned away from the poll station, for something as small as the lack of a hyphen.

Basically, I was a bit too harsh on Betty Brown because her quotes were taken completely out of context by people who don't completely understand the situation themselves.  From what I can tell, she is not saying Asian-Americans should change their names...what she IS saying is that they ought to just pick a way to romanize and stick with it...so the only thing she's guilty of is ignorance of interculture translation.

I've been sporadically sick for the past couple of weeks now, but this week's been the worst by far and I'm on my third sick day (I think by tomorrow I should be fine, though).  All of the ALTs in my town have been down with similar maladies, so I figure it's just something I need to get through before I enjoy my winter.

Anyway, in an effort to stave off boredom today, I stole a meme from my older sister's blog.  In an effort to be humorous, I'll include all of my foreign music, too, and will translate their titles as best I can and include clips and lyrics translations when I can find them.

Hoppípolla (Jumping Puddles), Sigur Rós (hmm)

Tagged by the oldest Toro sister.  Heh.  Admittedly, I left out all foreign and instrumental music I listen to (which is actually quite a lot...I hadn't realized how many Craig Armstrong pieces, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese songs, and movie soundtracks I'd stockpiled), but here goes!  By the way, I'd say there about three of these that I'm very embarrassed about, haha.  Oh well.

Step 1: Put your music player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly (No lyric hunting! That is cheating!)

1. "I hate the world today."
2. "Hey, Jude, don't make it bad."  guessed by starrcandi , "Hey Jude", by The Beatles
3. "Christmas, Christmas time is near..."
4. "When we got to Boston..."
5. "Give me a kiss to build a dream on..."
6. "If there's a God, he's laughing at us and our football team."
7. "Take me to the place where the white boys dance."
8. "Looking around the house..."
9. "Say you were split, split in fragments..."
10. "Quit acting so friendly..."
11. "A brand new baby was born yesterday, just in time."
12. "'So, here's a riddle to guess if you can,' sing the bells of Notre Dame..."  guessed by Matt, "The Bells of Notre Dame (Reprise)", by Alan Menken, sung by Paul Kandel
13. "Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight..."
14. "Was it all in real-time?"
15. "If it weren't for your maturity, none of this would have happened."
16. "Is there anybody out there that wakes up with the bitter taste?"
17. "Oh, the first flush of youth was upon you when our eyes first met..."
18. "Memories consume, like opening the wound..."
19. "Baby, please try to forgive me..."
20. "I took my love, and I took it down."  guessed by starrcandi , "Landslide", by Stevie Nicks
21. "You, you were a friend..."
22. "So far away, come on, I'll take you far away."
23. "Hello, can I say that there's something wrong with this place?"
24. "Sara-spelled-without-an-H was getting bored..."
25. "Can anybody find me somebody to love?"  guessed by starrcandi , "Somebody to Love", by Queen

I read this article while at work today and thought it was interesting.  Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War II and helped thousands of Jews escape Europe through issuing handwritten visas.

I love history.  There's so much we don't know.

I don't really understand how people can vote for Proposition 8.  The U.S. Constitution says that there is a freedom of religion within our nation and a separation of church and state - which then gives way to the fact that the U.S. government cannot deny a church its right to turn people away.  That being said, this means that it is absolutely no government's right (federal, state, or local) to make any ruling based on religious beliefs.  Therefore, the Constitution says all Americans are to receive equal rights - this should include the entrance of marital unions, at least on a governmental level.  That should be that.  Then it is left in the hands of religious leaders of churches whether or not to allow gay marriages to take place in their places of worship or not.  It should be completely out of the government's hands.  Doesn't that mean that Proposition 8 is illegal on a federal level?  If people are voting for Proposition 8 because of religious beliefs, I think that's wrong.

But I guess, like in abortion, you can't control voters' trains of thought, nor who votes.  It's so frustrating.

I feel really silly, but what might be only the second time in my life, I cried with happiness.  Obama's the United States President-elect.

In a really weird way, I almost physically feel like I was part of something that just helped a glass ceiling shatter.  I can feel the shards cascading around my head, surging upward in one of those Willy Wonka elevators, haha.  I guess that's what Obama represents to me, too.  I support his causes and a lot of his policies, and more than anything, while it didn't make me vote for him, I'm impossibly happy that our country is finally ready to pick a president without regard to the color of his skin.  Because that hits home for me harder than I ever thought it would.

I'm not a Republican - I don't think I ever really was one.  I'm more conservative, and like it or not, I believe there is a difference.  But this website made me smile.  I really wish more people would read some of the stuff there.  It's not a terribly flashy website, but it's certainly honest.  And I feel like it's full of swing voters like myself - and it makes me feel far less alone.  Maybe it's my own more moderate standpoint talking, but I really like what they all have to say. :)

I'm absolutely livid with people claiming that Colin Powell is endorsing Obama because of race.

1.  You are now insulting the intelligence of a political figure whom most Americans have trouble finding huge fault with, except that he is more of a backstage guy than a front runner.

2.  You are insulting someone who has experience in politics and work in the government, who is well-educated.

So it's not that Colin Powell is intelligent or thinks for himself?  It's not that Colin Powell has experience as a KNOWN more moderate conservative and has decided that this year's Democratic candidate simply speaks more to what he thinks should be done in the country?

No, no.  It's because Barack Obama is black, and Colin Powell is black, and Colin Powell sticks to his own color.  Because he doesn't know much about Obama but he sure sees him on TV a lot and since he looks like him, that should be his candidate!

Hell, that's why I'm with Obama.  I don't have much, but I'm part black down my dad's line somewhere.  If Rosie Perez was running for president, I'd totally vote for her.  She's even CLOSER to my color.  Oh wait!  Even better!  Jennifer Lopez!  Or how about Margaret Cho?  She's Korean, like me!  Or maybe that guy from Heroes - he's not Korean, but he's Asian, so that's close enough, right?

You listen to me, you racist, bigoted jerks claiming that Colin Powell is now enacting some sort of twisted reverse discrimination, I used to be a conservative.  I would still be one if it weren't for the fact that many of the policies that McCain supports are things I do not, and the fact that many of the policies Obama supports are things I do.  I was educated in Department of Defense schools, an international school, a highly-ranked high school in an advanced studies program, and I went to one of the best universities in the country, where I majored in International Studies.  Sorry to be an academic snob all of the sudden, but that's the truth.  Thank you for insulting me and every other minority in the country that supports Obama.  I'm sure you're really winning the favor of the few minority voters you had on your side to begin with, too.

So this year's election has given me two slaps in the face.  First, the Republicans think that by picking a woman, any woman (particularly an inexperienced one who they might be able to mold easier), they can win the hearts of female moderate swing voters - and that we'll forget the fact that McCain voted against the law that would have helped end gender-based pay discrimination.  Now I'm being told that I vote based on my vision, and not my intelligence.  Thank you very much.  I think I may have just ended my time in calling myself a moderate conservative.  Now I'm probably a moderate liberal.

Jackasses.

It must be the strain of living away from the States and home, but just like I did for my birthday, I actually have specific things I wish I could get for Christmas (but am 99.9% unlikely to receive - they're expensive, after all).  For my birthday I asked for new Nintendo DS games...not that there aren't DS games in Japan...but that would mean attempting to decipher some kanji, which wouldn't exactly work for me, haha.

There are only two things I want for Christmas.  The first is this.  I feel way dorky for asking for it, but my music is taking up a bit too much space on my computer and I want something to save the Asian dramas and movies I watch without having to delete stuff periodically.  It's a freaking terabyte!!!  Of course, I might be able to find something similar here if I go to Akihabara...but to be honest, Akihabara is just a little scary.  It's mainly men there, and they're mainly otaku (anime/manga nerds) there.  I'm not even kidding!  Maybe I can see what's around the big electronics stores near my town, though...

The second thing I want is something I never thought I'd want.  Uggs.  I've always thought those traditional Uggs were a bit ugly, so I'd never really wanted them.  But those!  THOSE!  In either "Espresso" or "Mocha"!  ...Well, mostly "Mocha"!  But look at that price!  I mean, it could be worse for boots, but that's still pretty bad.  I think I might have to give up on those.  Or save up myself to get them.  My only question is if Uggs can fit very wide calves, because that's what I've got.  Well, I say that like I'll end up buying them, which I shouldn't.  Sometimes it's things like this that remind that in a slightly smaller part of my brain, I'm still like more like a regular girl, haha.

1.  I have a victory of sorts in my second-year classes.  In my old set of schools, second-year boys were the most difficult for me.  At my new junior high school, there are only 3, haha.  Taito has improved in English class noticeably and now, despite a slight speech impediment, always says hello to me with a big smile on his face!  And whenever we're in English class, he actually tries to answer some of the easier questions, which he didn't do before!

One of the other boys, Tetsuya, was friendly to me from the start, since he's just a regularly good-natured kid.

The last boy, though, was the smartest of the three (which unfortunately doesn't mean exactly a lot...).  He was very wary of me all the time.  Last week, I don't know what happened but now he talks to me during lunch and laughs and jokes around.  I don't know what I did, but now Hirosato likes me/is okay with me!

2.  After reading this article, is it just me or is Prince William fighting a receding hairline?  As well as what may or may not be male pattern baldness on the crown of his head, haha.  I suppose that doesn't matter - he's still quite handsome in the face and very well spoken.  What I think is really funny is that I (who am a rather harsh judge of male beauty) used to say that Prince Harry was not only unfortunate-looking when compared to his brother, but when compared to the rest of the world as well.  I'm not going to take that back, because he was kind of an awkward-looking kid, but now he looks very handsome, haha.  I'm sure it helps that he's no longer a gawky 15-year-old (he's around my age and the last time I showed any interest in following the British princes was when I was 15, haha) and has filled out quite a bit.  I don't know...I think I actually might like Harry more now, haha.  Though I think I remember him being a bit of a dumb teenager what with weed and drinking and stuff, right?  Ah well.  I've switched over, haha.

...Of course, this might just be my secret redhead fetish coming out, haha.

This blog had me literally almost dying for trying to hold my laughter in at work.  My older sister posted it to her blog and my younger sister posted it to her Facebook profile, and the three of us decided that it is the most accurate portrayal of a typical Korean mother.  Go and read and learn if you don't know much about Korean mother culture, or go laugh yourself silly if you have one yourself.  It's a spin-off of the blog "Stuff White People Like", which is fun, but for me (and perhaps second-generation Asian-Americans everywhere), I had a ridiculous amount of fun reading about each.  It's also pleasant to find out that my sisters and I aren't alone...and our mother isn't completely insane.  Just Korean.

( just korean )

*sigh*

And you know, I feel the same as the author.  Admittedly, there was a point in time when I was extremely bitter and resentful about how I was brought up by my mother.  But now...I don't know...this is my twisted love letter to her, haha.

It's my birthday!  :Dv
//EDIT: I can't believe it. Sarah Palin might be the stupidest presidential running mate EVER. But you know, I guess you can't blame just her. What the heck is the McCain campaign thinking, sending her to interviews without even a script to parrot?

You know what the most amazing thing about my new schools is?

I don't have bad days.

Ever.

EVER.

That is the most surprising, pleasant, crazy, wonderful thing that I've realized.

Which isn't to say that every day was complete and utter crap at my old schools.  I loved every elementary school day I taught at my old schools.  I loved any day with my new first-years, and I loved any day when I taught class 3-4.

But at my new schools...every day is actually good.  Really good.  For the first time in over a year, I feel job satisfaction.  Not to knock my stint at Governor's School or anything, but while it was okay and I enjoyed most of it, it didn't make me ecstatically happy.  Being an RA just wasn't my thing.

So what is my thing?

( smiles are 0 yen at McAnnie's )

Do you ever find yourself watching Project Runway and start to feel your self esteem in your brain power suddenly skyrocket?

I mean, sure, I don't have their sewing or design talent, but damn - I thought a high school education was compuslsory in the United States.

Non-Japan Stuff:

You know, I consider myself a political moderate who every once in a while shows a tendency towards the conservative side of things.  But you know what...after this past week my vote is most definitely going to Obama.  I mean, it was never really in question, but you know...I wanted to wait and see more of what was said and see the debates and stuff to let that seal the deal for me.  But nope.  I'm not waiting for that.  McCain's campaign has made me feel repulsed and completely insulted now.  I don't think it could be more obvious that he's attempting to get the female swing voter population to go towards his side...AFTER he stopped a bill that would have stopped pay discrimination.  I'm thoroughly disgusted.

Japan Stuff:

I bought a yukata.  It's a summer form of kimono - it's lighter, less layers, and airier.  I didn't buy a fancy one, but just a cheaper one.  It's off-white with very dark bluish-purple flower/fern patterns down it, and then it has a purple obi.  Yukata are very cheap at the end of the summer season.  I wonder if it works the same way for kimono...?

PS:  So my parents should have been farmers...

I saw the new Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" (that's what the Japanese translates to, anyway, haha).  It's supposed to be Miyazaki's take on the "The Little Mermaid" story.  I feel like if you take "Lilo & Stitch", "My Neighbor Totoro", and "Howl's Moving Castle" and mix them together, you have this film...and that's a GOOD thing!  It's adoooooorable.  It's completely comprehensible, even if you have no real understanding of Japanese.  It's a film definitely made for small children.  "Spirited Away"/"Sen to Chihiro" is clearly a film meant for the entire family specifically, and while "Ponyo" can of course be seen by the whole family, its obvious target is young children.  It's interesting to see how Ghibli's artwork has evolved a bit over the years - this film is much more in the "Howl's Moving Castle" style, which I think other Ghibli fans will understand what I mean when I say that.

We follow Sousuke, a precocious, polite, obviously bright boy of around 5 years old and his little life on the island where he lives with a person we assume is his extremely loving stepmother Risa (they never make it clear about her, which I think is a wonderful thing because it makes it negligible whether she's the biological mother or not - her love for Sousuke is real no matter what) and his absent sea captain father (he's not completely absent - just always at work).  The movie begins with a young fish playing in the sea, escaping her underwater magical caretaker, and eventually getting stranded in the shallows by the island.  Sousuke is playing by his somewhat secluded house by the sea, where he meets the unconscious fish, who he names "Ponyo".  And from there begins their lighthearted, small, sweet adventure.  (And one thing that you'll notice during the movie is that Sousuke's life starts out as completely normal, but it gradually becomes increasingly more fantastical, down to the people he associates with and the things that seem commonplace.)

The movie's nothing as grandiose as "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away", or "Howl's Moving Castle" in terms of storyline - it's closer to "My Neighbor Totoro" in terms of that, but it's nevertheless completely adorable and memorable.  Like most of Ghibli's movies, this one centers on love as the main driving theme.

( your princess is in another castle )

1.  The Dark Knight was AMAZING.  SUGOI.  900-yen well spent!  In fact...I may see it again, haha.  Seriously - soooooo good.  SO GOOD!!!

2.  WHERE WAS I WHEN THIS HAPPENED?!  The freaking monkeys live closer to me, but they go and cause chaos somewhere I can't see them?!  (PS:  Doesn't it remind you of the cat riding the train in Whisper of the Heart except twisted and more unpredictable?)

Well...I say that now...but we all know how bad I am with animals...after the Nara deer biting my butt...and getting pooped on by birds 5 times in my life now (whereas normal people have it happen, like, once in their life...I guess the Irish would say I'm super-duper lucky)...and then as a kid horses/ponies ALWAYS ate my cotton candy at theme parks...and then there was that time I rode a horse (at a walk) at the one summer camp I've ever been to (it was a week long) and all the other horses kept walking behind the guide and then mine decided to gallop down the hill (I sort of kept that one a secret from the family...rather than being concerned, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me live it down).  Of course, there's also the time Olivia and I got chased down the street by our neighbor's huge black dog and I lost a sandal.  And then my friend's cat that never clawed anyone scratched my legs after I apparently pet it wrong.

Hmm.  Now that I think about it, it seems smaller dogs really are the only safe bet for me out of the ordinary animals people keep as pets, huh?  (And since I don't do rodents, reptiles, or amphibians, they're really the only choice).

No monkeys is a good thing for me, I guess.

My older sister Olivia likes to do Top Fives on her blog when she's bored.  I'm at work and classes are not in session...I am done with editing the drafts for the speech contest entrants, and ALTs do little else.  So...I'm bored, too.  TOP FIVES.

The only mention of Japan I'll make in this post is the fact that it's weird to be in a country that is as Olympics-crazy as the U.S..  I studied abroad in Paris during the Torino Winter Olympics (which I went to with Matt, of course), but I think he'll agree with me when I say that the French definitely just aren't as into it as we are.  The Italians either, for that matter.

But man, Japanese people are into it.  I guess it's also a matter of how much stuff you can win.  The French and Italian win modest amounts of medals.  The U.S. dominates, and Japan is quickly becoming a dominant country in many events, too.  Swimming is HUGE here, and so it's really weird for me to pick up TV magazines and see all these Asian swimmers I don't know, haha.  They also love volleyball here, both women's AND men's - here, it's an incredibly popular sport for men.  Baseball is of course huge, soccer is huge... The list goes on, of course.  So it's weird in that the Japanese will of course focus on the Japanese athletes and popular sports in Japan.

Anyway, the other thing that's weird is that I'm only 1 hour ahead of Beijing.  Like living in DC when all my friends are in Chicago.

The other thing is that this marks my first time watching the Olympics since I quit swimming.  Looking at the swimming stuff, it makes me feel nostalgic and actually kind of sad.  There's one person I actually swam against before on the roster, which is kind of crazy.  Not that she made it, but that I know here and that I competed against her at some point.  I miss swimming.  I miss the feel of the water and knowing that I knew how to control it and could power through it.