Pretty Good Year
31 December 2003, 21:48
Ah. The Year of the Sheep. It’s meant to symbolize peace, abundance and good luck. So has the Year of the Sheep lived up to its name?
Peace. OK. The rest of the world seems to be going to Hell but personally, life has been very harmonious indeed. It is difficult though, to reconcile your place in the contentment spectrum when hundreds of thousands of innocent lives are being sacrificed in the name of “peace”. This year, whenever the word “World Peace” popped up on the news, I came to associate it with “Megalomanic pursuit of World power”. I hope to crap next year the world sorts its shit out. OK. So I’m an Optimist.
Abundance. Hell Yes. Thank you everyone who stopped by my website, particularly my regular readers. I’ve received so much encouragement from people I’ve never met. As a blogger, you open yourself up to a certain amount of criticism and fuck it thickens your skin like nothing else. It makes you realise when you get sad freaks of nature flaming your blog that you actually have a fulfilling, expressive and honest life.
I’ve been in the advantageous position to be able to live in this contradictory and amazing country and describe both the beautiful and blemished Japan. And I’ve been lucky to get to know some fellow bloggers in person - Martine, Jenn and Kat, 3 excellent and unusual chicks.
Good Luck. I’ve had it in spades. Even the weather has behaved its pretty little self this year.
I love (most of) my students and working for a variety of clients. Teaching is so much better than Human Resources it makes me sick (in a good way). For someone seriously suffocating in the corporate rut, I can’t recommend it enough.
I had the good fortune to have The Mister propose to me (albeit drunkenly) in Kyoto on New Years Day. The unmitigated highlight of 2003. In fact, I have the good fortune to have scored the finest single-malt in the guy world. Argue with me if you will. I will not be swayed on this.
New Years Resolutions. Shudder. For the past 10 years my NYR has invariably been to “drink less” or “drink only on the weekends” and every year I fail miserably. So this year, my NYR is to “accept that I’m a gigantic lush.” What’s a few hundred missing brain cells when you got yourself a fair chunk of happiness and good fortune?
And what would an end of the year blog be without at least one Top 10? Being a movie buff, I decided on a Top 10 films for 2003. Before the cries of “Omigod, that movie is sooooo 2002” bear in mind that us cinephiles in the Far North East have to wait up to 6 months for new releases:
1. Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (2002)
2. Juon - The Grudge 2
3. 8 Mile (2002)
4. Matrix Reloaded
5. The Eye (aka Jian Gui) (2002)
6. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
7. Rabbit Proof Fence (2002)
8. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
9. Pirates of the Caribbean
10. X2
Oh, and I’d like to be able to write a blog entry without the word “fuck” in it. Optimism is a curse.
Permanent Link | Comments [2]The foot of Mount Fuji
31 December 2003, 03:03
Sunset
Sunrise
Silly Buggers
OK. So I took an obscene amount of photos this weekend. Dammit, I have a new camera. Give me a break. And I may have gushed “Sugoi!!!”, “Cho Kakoii!!!”, “Immaculate!!!” or “She’s f$%@#in’ awesome, mate!” enough times to warrant a fair crack over the noggin by Miss Frangipani. But hell, I talk too much, so let the photos speak for themselves...
Just getting out of Tokyo for a couple of days was superb. Filling my lagging lungs with fresh, clean air. Blue skies. Little old ladies cracking their faces into rapturous smiles the moment you spurt out “Konnichiwa!”. Indulging my passion for Kimono at the f$%#@in’ awesome Itchiku Kubota Museum. Hanging out with a kindred Aussie spirit.
Yeah. It was pretty good.
Missed it by that much
27 December 2003, 22:37
Snowscape in aluminium and blue
Late Boxing Day and the snows come. Ah, the dream of having a white Christmas eludes us still!
Woke up to the sound of dripping snow from the aluminium roofs. The seat of my mama-chari christened with white powder. Rude blue skies framing the white-dusted roads and roofs. Cynicism melting along with the snow. Everything clean and cold and fresh.
[big sigh]
A (majime) moment of reflection
26 December 2003, 22:39
So. Christmas. Some foreigners laud the fact that Christmas isn’t “celebrated” here because it means having a Christmas that is non-stressful without the constant familial and traditional pressures of a western Christmas. I both agree and disagree.
Because Japan is essentially a non-Christian country, Christmas Day is a money-making enterprise, there’s no other way of looking at it. It’s a day where Japanese women everywhere get taken out to fancy restaurants by their boyfriends and exchange expensive gifts. Unless a Japanese person is Christian (around 1%) knowledge of “Jesus” is probably limited to what a westerner’s knowledge of “Buddha” might be.
So last night when we were walking through Ikebukuro, seeing all the hawkers and street-advertisers dressed as Santa, an odd, artificial taste lingered in my mouth. I’m not saying that Christmas hasn’t been reduced to a commercial mecca in Australia or wherever, cos it most certainly has, but it seems all the more horribly exploitative here - a country that has little (if any) education about the origins of “Christmas” or the traditions of celebrating a christian holiday. It may be hypocritical of me to succumb to gift-giving on Christmas Day when I criticise it, but my point is that in Japan there is no christian ideology to support the excessive Christmas advertising and marketing campaigns.
I’m no diehard Christian. My mum’s a Catholic, my dad’s an Anglican. I consider myself agnostic if anything, but Christmas (irrespective of the “gift-giving” stress) was a crucial part of my growing up, as it is for every person from a predominantly christian country.
It’s strange having Christmas in Japan. It can never be the same as celebrating it in Australia (and neither should it), particularly cos we aren’t sweating in 30 degree heat and heading for the beach with lilos and Christmas picnic in tow. So Matt and I celebrated it in our own way. It was pointless trying to emulate past Christmases anyway, as the harder you try, the more disappointed you get when the two don’t match.
Matt made a roast dinner on Christmas Eve (bang up job of it he did, too), we drank a bottle of 1992 Aussie Frontignac and some port, listened to jazz and played Scrabble. On Christmas Day we opened presents, ate a huge fried breakfast, and hung out at home munching on the shortbreads Matt’s parents sent us. We had dinner at El Torito, a Mexican Restaurant in Ikebukuro and walked home (note: beautiful evening for a stroll).
And it was top-shelf. Low key and as non-stressful as we could possibly make it, in spite of my coughing up a lung. Our family and friends weren’t around us and that part of the day felt lonely, but there were no family agendas to deal with. No arguments about whose family we would celebrate Christmas with this year. No having to keep everyone happy.
So whilst the whole Japan Inc. Capitalist Rollercoaster got me down a bit, this year’s Christmas was far from stressful. And at the end of the day, Matt and I had each other and that’s what really mattered.
You can go vomit now.
Ikebukuro Xmas - Matt chats to rellies in sunny Cairns; Sonic Hedgehog Christmas
Cheeky
26 December 2003, 20:24
Sigh. Those cheeky little hamsters have been at our hosts machine again. Not. Good. Enough. Apologies to anyone who got this page. I hate to admit it, but the hacked page is way cute. If it weren’t so frikkin’ annoying it would be funny.
