Gomen Nasai

It has been forever since I last posted, and I am sorry for that. Circumstances became...odd.

Saturday I sang Karaoke in a group, which was a lot of fun. I was very surprised that Laur new a Patti Smith song that I sung (Because the Night), and that Jason did not know Don't Stop Believing (Nor anyone else, for that matter). Anyway, I sang so much my throat and ears started to hurt -- indicative of something worse than just singing too hard. I would have posted when I got in, but I got in around 5am so I just crashed.

Sunday I basically slept in and went to the Jewish Center with Ben.

It was a long, boring, and painful service. Added to that, despite being tiny, the temple was set up like an Elite inner-city synagogue with reservations and everything. The congregation, despite being small, was rude/impersonal to their own (a young child was crying, almost everyone turned and shhhed loudly, multiple times, until the mother took the kid and left), the Rabbi gave a little speech on how every Jew needs to connect with god on their own. In other words, the 3 hour service had nothing to do with building a sense of community and giving us an opportune start towards asking each other for forgiveness. I'm not sure what the point of it was, waste time so you can go to sleep after and not worry about fasting? Finally, the President just basically asked for money and was generally rude/indignant. Oh, and he gave a speech basically about how Pakistani people are terrible due to some things done to the Jewish populace, and how they don't deserve to be thought of as even human (On Yom Kippur -- the day of forgiveness and repetence, really?) In general, an unpleasant experience. Though, Ben and I got food afterwards from a really nice woman (she reminded me of the Korean that hand-fed me). We also took pictures next to the fake-Mich: (Ben sucks at cameras, apparently)

Monday I had my first class -- Intensive Japanese level 1! It was pretty dull an way below my level, so I took the exam to move up...which was really tough. Oh well, I should find out if I move up tomorrow. After class I got my Hanko (stamp)!

Now, Monday night I got really sick and threw up both food and blood. I also have red spots around my eye, that should be nothing. Pic:

Everyone has been really nice and helpful since then, even though I had to go to the hospital at about midnight. Thank you guys!
Anyway, besides that, I just sort of slept in on Tuesday and took a bunch of meds (which I am still on). Today I went to my Russia course, which was lots of fun because I got to wear this:

Anyway, I should go to sleep now. I am still a little sick. I'd like to pretend I will fix the formatting of this post in the future, but I doubt I will. I may switch to the old blogger though, as this one apparently sucks.

Alien Registration and National Health Insurance

Mmm. It has been a mixed bag since the last post. Let me start with the most interesting occurence.

Most of my plans for last night fell through. I ended up trying to get passport photos with a friend, Abby. She ended up leaving to get pictures taken while I went back to the dorm to get my SD card to print from a copy machine. When I got back, I ran into a lot of trouble trying to work the machine that my slight knowledge of the language could not help me overcome. An older woman, Elaine, came to my rescue...sort of. She helped bridge the communication gap, but I ended up with the wrong sized photo. She ended up talking to me outside after to try to help my situation (maybe?) Basically she told me that my picture was no good because I don't look like that anymore, so she told me that I should get a cheap razor (and told me where to get one a few times). She also assumed and asked if I was Jewish, and then invited me to call her to celebrate Rosh Hashana. To make sure I could do so she gave me a phone card, so I will likely call her soon (though I doubt I will go, I am rather tired now.) It was a rather surreal experience.

Afterwards I went back to the dorm and went with another friend, whose name I am not sure how to spell (Bathusi? Sorry if this is wrong and you read this! If you don't read this, I am less sorry!) to campus so she could use the 'net and I could get my photos. This plan failed (though I let her use my computer afterwards). I went back to the dorm and, looking sad, asked a Korean girl (I have learned better than to try to spell Korean names until I see them in either English or Hangul) for help. She eventually showed me to the booth. After this I just sort of hung out in the dining room/lounge and discussed music. It was pretty nice.

As for today, most of it was spent registering as an Alien and getting National Reduced Health Insurance (I only pay 30% if I get sick!) I actually didn't put the sound on my iPod, so I didn't have a working alarm -- my roommate woke me up (thanks Kim) at 7:30 when I had to go. We didn't get out until like, 1:00 or 1:30. It was awful. We went for food afterwards, where my meal (which was good) was delayed signficantly (I believe they forgot to make it). Pretty much the chefs just worked in like, any order they felt like. It was rather awkward.

The rest of the day was spent with Ghazal and Tobby. We travelled all over, to get electronics, to the Shinjuku Observatory, to Kinokuniya, to get Taiyuki, and back to the dorms. It was a lot of fun. The electronics store was a lot like I remembered the department/electronic stores from my last trip to Japan, and similar to those in Korea. Lots of stuff everywhere, cheap netbooks (about 10,000 Yen!!), lots of floors. The Observatory had an amazing view of everything, I will have to go back with a camera, so I won't describe it much. The Kinokuniya (there ARE chains in the US, I believe it is the same store) was enormous (like, 8 floors). It was interesting -- we just stayed no the foreign books floor, where I mainly looked at english grammar books (they are pretty funny and use outdated phrases). Finally we came back, got Taiyaki (fish-shaped, Adzuki bean filled, crispy bread). Overall I rather enjoyed the day -- a good note to start the new year!

I will probably call Elaine later today and explain the situation, and maybe give her my e-mail. I was hoping to bring a group to Rosh Hashana, but it just seems like it won't work at this point. There's also a party at 7 that would compete with this (I'm not sure I will go as I am rather tired). Anyway, TOV HASHANA EVERYONE!!! Eat some apples and honey for me.

(Edit on 9/22/09 at 12:04: Corrected a name)