Home Stretch

This quarter is quickly coming to a close. I have exactly one week to finish my finals, build up my relationship with a potential employer (Morgan Stanley), pack all my things for the trip home and move out of my apartment.

Needless to say things are going to be a little hectic. I'll try to keep up on the posting buy I'm sure you'll all understand if I have to keep things short.

Right now as I type this I am in between my Econ finals. The test which I just finished had me sweating bullets. It contained three problems of which I had to do two. One was extra-credit. I did the first one easily but the second two had me stumped. I understood them but I was missing one piece that kept me from solving them. I was caught going in endless circles around the answers. Finally, with 15 minutes to go on a two hour exam I had a Eureka! moment and was able to solve both problems.

Instead of doing terrible I think I'll have a score above 100%. I'm very happy about that.

Now, in about half an hour I have another exam. I am a great deal more confident about this one and on top of that, my scores have been so good so far that I can get a C and still get an A in the class. I'm pretty sure I'll be close to 100% on this exam but it's comforting to have that extra cushion in my grade.

Update:
I just finished the second exam and I am no where's near 100%. The teacher radically changed the format he used on all of his previous exams and this new format was not at all friendly. Previously we had four problem on the solving portion of the test and got to choose 3 of them with the last one available as extra credit. This test he only gave us two with both being mandatory, no extra credit available.

One of the problems was tested a concept that he just briefly mentioned and despite the fact that I spent five 3 and a half hours studying yesterday and thought I had every possible problem covered, I couldn't do it. Now I'm just hoping that I got the high C I need to get my A in the class.

Changes

I have been working on a new look for my blog and I would really appreciate your opinions on my progress.

You can view the new template here.

I am particularly interested in your thoughts about my replacement of all the pastel blue in my current template with a dark red. Do you think this is too hard on the eyes or do you like the contrast? If I were to add another color to the scheme which one do you think would go well with the red? What would go well with the blue?

What do you think of the new header? Do you like the rounded corners? Is the text too big and bold? What do you think of my using Japanese? What if I were to remove the light gray swirls in the background of the image?

Your answers to any/all of these questions is greatly appreciated. Any other suggestions or comments are eagerly desired.

As you may have noticed, this template is not on Blogger. That is because I will probably be moving to a Wordpress based blog (@ rabenstrange.com) sometime in the future (I'm aiming for a debut of the new blog in a couple of months).

Monday

As I always do on Mondays I am heading for Lifegroup. Lately, we have been meeting in Shinjuku.
I really enjoy these times of fellowship.

Greed

One of the biggest challenges that comes with studying at a university in Tokyo is the enormous outlay of money that it requires. On top of the typical overpriced tuition, there is the constant expenses of daily life in Tokyo. Nothing is free here and very little is cheap.

As a result, I've been living pretty much at the subsistence level. Looking over the records I've been keeping of all of my purchases since coming to Japan, I can see that the only things I spend any real money on is food and transportation. I really can't spare the cash for anything else.

All this goes to say, that in the last day or so I've been considering what I would do with my money if I had some cash to blow. I came up with a kind of fantasy Christmas list of things that I can't afford, here are a few:

Tippmann Pro/Carbine Paintball Marker - $160
For some reason I've been craving a good game of paintball lately and digging about online I think I found the perfect gun for me. The Pro/Carbine is known for being extremely rugged and reliable and simple to fix, clean etc. More importantly, it's one of the most accurate stock guns available, SpecOps Paintball recommends it for paintball snipers. Unfortunately, the gun is no longer produced and as a result it is quickly disappearing from retailers.

Oakley SI Computer Bag - $175
I need a case for my laptop and I would love for this awesome bag to be the one I get. In addition to it's quality construction and militaristic aesthetic, I really appreciate the large bag body, numerous pockets and comfortable carrying strap. It would be just thing for bring my laptop too and from school on the train. Backpacks are unwieldy on the train and a sling pack would really fit the bill.

Eten Glofiish M700 Smartphone - Not yet released
This slim phone combines the features of a high end PDA, GPS unit, and light Camera. With wireless LAN support (802.11b/g), a QWERTY keyboard, touch screen and a 2 megapixel digital camera this is just the thing for surfing the web and posting blog entries on the go.

Creative Zen Vision M - $250
This is my MP3 player of choice of the many options currently available. Although the iPod and Zune probably have better players, they require the use of proprietary media software that really gets on my nerves. The Zen would play all of my music and video files without the need to mess with a frustrating sync/file-conversion program. Additionally, the Zen is reported to have better battery life, durability and reliability.

Optimus Keyboard - Not yet released
This futuristic peripheral uses organic LED's to create a mini-screen on each key. This allows the board to be instantly reconfigured for use with any language, game etc. This would be particularly useful here in Japan.

DAS Keyboard - $Until the Optimus arrives early next year, the DAS is the keyboard I most want to buy. It's stylish, jet black, unmarked keys are individually weighted for increased typing speed and utilize ultra high-end switches for crisp, perfect keystrokes.

UltraSharp 1907FP 19" Flat Panel Monitors - $280 each
Currently, CNET's highest rated 19" monitors, a pair of these would be just the thing to expand my desktop and give me the screen real estate I crave. Extra fast response times, superb color and vivid contrast make for excellent gaming or movie watching.

IEM (In Ear Monitor) Headphones - $150-200
This style of headphones inserts slightly into the ear canal and seals your ear off from outside sounds. This allows them to best so called "sound canceling" headphones at reducing noise. Because of the close fit and lessened competition with other sounds, IEMs are used at extremely low volumes thus extending the battery life of your music player.

With that out of the way, it's time to get back to reality.

Wheels on the Bus

Today was the last day of class.I got out of school early and so now I'm on the bus headed home.
When I tried to pay my fare, the bus driver didn't have change for my 5000 yen bill. It was quite embarrassing. After asking everyone on the bus if they had change, the driver let me ride free, telling me to pay double next time.

On a Sunday

This morning I forgot that the service times at church have changed. I didn't get up in time for the service I usually attend so now I'm on my way to evening church. I'm bringing the disposable camera Mom sent in hopes of getting good night pictures of Tokyo at night.

Tonight, after I get home, I have to write a 1 page paper for Psych class.

This is going to be a busy evening.

This is a test to see if I can successfully post to this blog with my keitai.

It's Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas

As the holidays approach, Tokyo is putting up more and more Christmas decorations. There are wreaths, fake evergreen bows and lighted displays everywhere but despite the trappings of the holiday, there is no Christmas spirit here what-so-ever. It is very sad. At home you can feel the joy and good cheer of the holidays everywhere you go. It's subtle but reflected in the voice and face of almost everyone you meet. Here there's lights but the holiday is completely dead. It has no meaning, it is a mere commercial fabrication. It makes me sad and adds an extra chill to the winter air.
This is the beautifully lighted tree in the square in front of the local train station. One day I got home from an errand to see downtown Jiyugaoka decked out in Christmas finery. It reminded me of home.

Note: This picture was taken with my camera phone. I sent it via email to my PC as a test to see how good the pic showed up on a real screen. I'm impressed. The camera phone pics are a lot higher quality than I expected.

Christmas Wish List 2006

In honor of the busiest shopping day of the year, here are a few of the things that I want/need* to get during this Christmas season:

Optical Mouse - I'm hoping for a nice 5 button mouse but I also like the standard Microsoft one.

Pen Drive 1GB - I haven't had a flash drive since my 256MB Lexar got stolen. I need one now.

MiniSD Card - I need one for my phone so that I can take loads of pictures and easily transfer them to my computer for use in blog posts.

Webhosting - I want to buy some server space so that I can host my own website, blog, FTP site, Wiki etc.

Gore-Tex Jacket - It'll be winter in 日本 when I come back and a good, rain-proof coat will undoubtedly prove invaluable.

Digital Camera - My cameraphone isn't ideal for documenting my adventures abroad. I don't need anything state of the art.

BDU Trousers - In Japan I have to dry my clothes on the line and I've found that my BDUs dry much quicker than jeans. Unfortunately, the Japanese are sometimes offended by Americans in camo so solid black or gray are the preferred colors this season.

Creative ZEN - My MuVo died on me. I'm ready to move up to a bit nicer MP3 player. I like the Creative players because they don't require annoying software like iTunes or Zune.

19" Flatscreen Monitor(s) - I love my laptop but some more screen real estate would be nice. An LCD would also be nice for my desktop.

Tillamook Cheddar - I've been missing cheese for more than three months and so I have decided to bring at least one large brick back to 日本 with me.

Wrap Around Headphones - The wires in the pair that I have are broken causing spotty sound. Be forewarned: I'm picky about headphone comfort.

Wireless Hub - It would nice to set up a wireless network in my new apartment.

Black Socks - What can I say? I lose socks and need replacements frequently.

Money - My finances are going to be tight during the Spring Semester and any contributions towards my college expenses will be greatfully received.

*Most of these are things that I'll have to buy for myself if I don't get them as gifts.

Japanese Refrigerator

This is a Japanese refrigerator. I think it's neat. The layout is typical the clear shell is not.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I have a lot to be thankful for. Living thousands of miles away from home forces me to be more dependent on God's provision and gives me a new perspective for viewing all the things with which he has blessed me in the past.

Here are a few of the things I am thankful for:

My Family - I have always loved my family but a few months separation has shown me that I take them for granted far too much.

My Friends @ Home - Moving away from the buddies that have been my constant companions for the last five or more years makes me appreciate how unique we all are and how well suited for friendship.

My Friends Here - It would be significantly harder to be here if I didn't have a few friends that share my values to remind me that God is in control.

American Beef - I am thankful that God invented cows. I am also thankful that he taught Americans to feed their cows corn and steroids so that they doesn't taste nasty and bland like Australian beef.

Scholarship Money - If it weren't for $20k in scholarships, I couldn't be here.

The Internet - If Al Gore hadn't invented it, I would be deprived with my primary source of entertainment, news and information as well as my Skype line home.

My Room Mate - Even though we don't hang out much and have pretty different outlooks on life, he still tolerates my eccentricities and I appreciate that.

Even though I'm not home to celebrate the holiday with the people I am still very thankful. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and eat lots of Turkey for me.

Goodby Mr. Friedman

Today I learned the sad news that Milton Friedman has died at the age of 94.

I greatly enjoyed reading his books and found his theories and ideas to be brilliant and insiteful. He pioneered ideas that were considered ridiculous when he proposed them but are now taken as fact and recognized as common sense.

I highly recommend his book Free to Choose to anyone even remotely interested in economics or politics.

Update:
I found an Wall Street Journal obituary detailing a couple of his many achievements.

The End is in Sight!

Today I attended my last lecture in both of my Econ classes. Because Thursday is Thanksgiving and Japanese Labor Day, we don't have class and Monday is the final day of the normal semester. I still have three days for my MWF classes but classes are pretty much over.

I'll be going to the immigration office to get my re-entry permission on Wednesday. That will probably be an adventure as the office isn't located near any train stations and will require a 15 minute walk with unclear directions and a bad map. I'm expecting to spend a lot of time looking for it but I'm free the whole day so it shouldn't be to much of a stresser.

Finals start on the 30th. I have both my Econ finals on the 30th. I was able to get one of them moved from December 5th so that I'll have time to move before I get thrown out on the street on the morning of the 6th.

My other finals will be on December 4th. The 5th, I'll move out. The Sixth I'll go to Disneyland. Then finally after months of anticipation I'll go home to my family on the 7th. 16 days!

Festival!

My school had a festival this Sunday. The student government required all clubs to run a fundraising booth and so Steph, Kimi and I ran a donut and coffee table.

Unfortunately, the estimates on the number of attendees was wildly inaccurate, so we bought way to many donuts and went about $60 in the hole. It was kind of sad but at least there's lots of yummy donuts to eat.

The festival also featured demonstrations by several of the clubs and a kind of talent show. It was pretty neat. Some of the performers were very talented.

Anyhow, that's what I did this weekend.

Funky Friday Cafe

Today, I went with Stephanie to her church's Friday night college get together. It was fun and I got to meet a bunch of new people.

We had dinner, a rice dish with crab, egg, seaweed and some other stuff that I couldn't identify mixed in. As odd as the mixture sounds it was quite tasty. If I knew how to make it I would.

After dinner we played a game, kind of like Scattergories except that instead of listing words on various topics, the objective was to write down as many four letter words that started with the same letter as your name. Luckily there were no Freds, Sams, Dons or Harrys playing. I came in second.

Steph and the musical members of the group played a worship set. Then she shared her testimony. After that we all discussed what we believed God's purpose for us was.

It was a good time.

Package

Huzzah! I received another package from home on Tuesday, this time from my family. It was loaded with beef jerkey, dried mangoes (which are fabulously tasty), Sugar Daddies, tea and a pan and cookie mix.

I have been doing a little bit better about sending letters. I'm still a despicable scoundrel when it comes to keeping in touch but at least I'm progressing a little. I've got a fat envelope of letters sealed and ready for the post office. It'll be in the mail tomorrow.

In other news, Kimi, Steph and I are trying to organize a trip to Disneyland (the one in Japan, not California). Scheduling will be tough but I think we'll be able to make it work. It'll be awesome if we can pull it off.

Things are Heating Up

As the end of the quarter draws near my workload is finally starting to pick up. Lately, I've been working on essays or assignments everyday.

Saturday, I took a break and Stephanie and I went to Sunshine City, a 5 story, mostly underground mall in Ikebukero. It is famous because it is one of the biggest malls in Tokyo. Despite it's reputation it was actually smaller than the mall that I occasionally visit at home.

While there, I was looking for photo-worthy things that I could shoot for my mom. The mall was already decorated for Christmas and in the main square there was a three story blue and white flashing Christmas tree. As I moved close to get a good angle, I found that there was a small stage at the front with three guys in full samurai armor and a lady announcing something in Japanese on it. Since they were obviously worth the film I decided to snap them too. The lady on stage noticed my camera and she brought Steph and I on stage to get our pics taken. It was great.

In one of the stores they were selling air fresheners, similar to the pine tree ones at home except instead of a tree they were shaped like a marijuana leaf and were advertised as "hemp" odor. Why would someone want their car to smell like pot? Especially in a country where you do hard time in prison for so much as looking at a joint. Anyways, I thought it rather interesting.

After we finished walking the mall, we stopped at the busiest Starbucks in the world. It is located at "the crossing" in Shibuya. I almost choked when I had to pay more than $4 for a plain cup of hot chocolate. We got our drinks quickly but we ended up having to wait for more than half an hour to sit down. They were playing Christmas music in the store, reminding us that it's almost time for us to head back for the holidays. It also reminded us that we would be missing all of our Thanksgiving traditions. We sat and comiserated for almost an hour. With the rain outside and the Christmas music playing, while sitting and drinking Starbucks, it was almost like Seattle just without the people that make me call it home.

Registration

I've registered for classes for next semester. From the looks of things, I'll be facing a much more challenging course load this time around. I am currently signed up for the following classes:

Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
International Monetary Econcomics
Statistical Analysis II
International Trade
Scientific Thinking in Psychology, Writing Intensive

At first I thought that I had devised the perfect schedule, I would come in from 9 til 4:00 Monday, Wednesday Friday with Tuesdays and Thursdays free. That would allow me to get a real job but unfortunately, one of the classes I hoped to take is not actually applicable to my degree. The replacement class that I have to take is at 3:15-4:45 Tuesday, Thursday. Ahh! it's so frustrating.

English Camp

I'm sorry that it's taken so long but I've finally got a moment to give my report on Yamato Nishi English Camp 2006.

On Saturday the 28th, I got up at 0530 to grab a bite and a shower before meeting up with the rest of the Jiyugaoka residents that were helping out at the camp. I was really dragging because I had stayed up really late the previous night but nevertheless, both Josh(my room mate) and I made it to the meeting place on time @ 0600. Unfortunately we were the only ones who did. The rest of the group had done their typical Friday night drinking and ended up being quite a bit late. Other than the annoyance factor, it didn't really matter though.

We all made it to Shinjuku to meet the rest of the TUJers by the appointed time and from there we all made it on to the right trains to make it too Sagamiono. It really was amazing how every single one of the 28 TUJ students made it on time. I was impressed. Upon arriving in Sagamiono we were hustled to our busses for the five hour to the retreat center in Gunma prefecture. I blogged about that ride during the drive.The camp was held at Tokai University's Kogen Seminar Center in Gunma Prefecture amidst a beautiful fall, mountain landscape. We arrived at 1330, a little bit later than projected. We dropped our bags in our room, sat through a quick orientation and were at our stations ready to teach within an hour of arriving.

Throughout the weekend, each of the foreign students, most of us from Temple, was assigned to a station through which groups of students would rotate. The first day, we helped the student with introductions and then listened to a short presentation about their school. We coached them on their pronunciation, posture and other things to make their English presentation sound better. I thought that these exercise were a bit dry. What made them a lot more enjoyable was chatting with the students between sessions.

After a couple of workshops it was time for dinner. We all ate with our groups. By the time I met up with my group and made it through the line, the food was cold and between that and it's unfamiliarity I didn't really like it. The conversation with the Japanese students on the other hand was very enjoyable.

That night after dinner, we had several hours of free time before the students had to go to bed. During this time we got to hang out with them, chatting, playing games and taking pictures.

I should pause here and clarify that when I say, "take pictures" it was like being a full on celebrity. I got mobbed by literally dozens of girls wanting to take pictures with me. Over the week end almost every spare moment was an excuse for students to whip out their cameras and get pictures taken with an American. I probably appear in a couple hundred pictures, each one featuring me with the same cheezy grin. I felt a bit self conscious but seeing the excitement all the kids showed at the chance to take a photo with me I couldn't turn them down. It was crazy.

I have never been so popular in my life as when hanging out with those Japanese highschoolers.

One of the American English teachers at Yamato Nishi made my time at the camp a lot more challenging. The complication was innoncent enough, he has the same name as me. This meant that every single one of Yamato Nishi's 240 freshmen students permanently memorized my name the first time they heard it... and they expected reciprocity. Through out the camp I had students greeting me by name and then asking if I remembered their name. Can you believe that I forgot one or two of them? Okay, so I really forgot pretty much all of them. I ended up memorizing a little more than a dozen names out of all the students. At least the few that I remembered were wildly thrilled when I remembered them. I definitely need to build up my name recall skills.

The second day we did workshops for most of the day. This time we helped students work on distinguishing between English sounds that are indistinct in Japanese for example, 'l' and 'r', played word games and helped the kids work on speeches for a contest that was held on Monday morning.

Once again, after dinner we got to hang out with the students. It was a blast. Their excitement with us as foreigners, the challenge of bi-lingual conversation and the many friendly, fun kids all combined to make for a great time. After the students went to bed, the Americans stayed up chatting until early in the morning.

Despite our lack of sleep, we managed to get up and conduct the speech contest. One of my friends, a girl that I chatted with both evenings, won first place. I had helped her work on her speech and so needless to say I was super happy.

After the contest, we packed the few things that we hadn't put away the night before and loaded on to the busses for the return journey. On the bus the kids did karoke. It was excruciating. What with the terrible Japanese 80's music, the off-key guys and the feedback through the sound system the din was pretty awful. A fact which hardly prevented it from being fun.

All in all the trip was the funnest thing I've done since coming to Japan. I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who has a chance to do something similar. I know that I'm going to do my best to help out at English Camp next year.


NOTE: Pictures courtesy of the much appreciated Kimiko, who actually has a camera.

Go Vote!

It's election day.

I didn't ever figure out how to get my ballot sent here so I'm sitting this election out. Don't worry, I'm terribly ashamed and feel like an enormous hypocrite. Despite all my whining about the government I didn't even find a way to exercise my own franchise.

Don't be a loser like me. Go vote!

Package!

Huzzah! I got a package from home today.

My spendidly spectacular and oh-so-appreciated Aunt Janet and Uncle Chris sent be a big box loaded with candy, microwaveable kettlecorn and popcorn, Pringles and a new sweat shirt.

I am so happy to have snacks from home. The Japanese have some pretty tasty snacks but they tend to be expensive and they just aren't the same as what I'm used to.

The sweatshirt is also very timely. It's finally starting to cool off here. It won't be long before it's coat season proper.

I also got a fabulous letter and card from Emily (unfortunately the color doesn't come out good in my webcam). I showed it to some of my friends, they all admired it and thought it was super cute. One of them wished that she had a sister like Emily.

I have such a great family. They are always sending me wonderful packages, cards and letters to brighten my day. It is rather humbling how much they care. Unfortunately, I am not nearly so good at returning their attention. I usually forget to write and haven't sent any packages back. I really don't deserve them.

A Few More Days

Sorry folks but it looks like it'll be a few more days before I get around to any more substantial posts. I've got two 5 page paper due in the next week, one of them on Monday. As a result I'll be needing to focus my writing energies on school work. I realize that I'm getting backed up, I still owe you guys a tour of the Imperial Palace and a more thourough treatment of my English camp experience.

A few interesting things have happened that I can relate pretty quick, hopefully they'll keep you entertained while I work.

A few days before Halloween, I was riding to a school and I saw a few little boys looking at masks and costumes at a small shop. One of them picked up a mask to look at it and when he held it up it was a Michael Jackson. The kids screamed and ran away. I laughed.

I actually had a trick-or-treater. One of the girls in my dorm rang everyone's doorbells. I think I was the only one who had candy on hand to give out.

Today is a Friday, but I've got the day off from school. Hopefully, I can get my Monday paper done today so that I can go touristing tomorrow. I've got church stuff all day on Sunday. Monday is BIble Study. I'm starting to get busy...