Chris’s Blog

*UPDATE*
Turns out this is only the demo kiosk software. That sucks.

Caught this at the local Yodobashi. Its installing something to do with PlaystationTV.

先週の日曜日に僕と樹理は幕張本郷町内の運動会に行きました。10時ぐらいに着いて、子供がたくさんいました。　そこでいろんな競技がありました。一番好きだったのはビール飲み競争でした。僕は最初のレースで勝ちました。樹理はパン食い競争に出ました。樹理が面白かったです。パン食い競争で２０メートルぐらい走って、口でロープにぶら下がっているパンを加えて、そしてまた２０メートル走ると終了です。お昼の時に校長先生がお弁当をくれたのでうれしかったです。

Just applied myself, not too sure on the details but per usual it involves downloading a theme for the PS3. Looks like you can apply up until the 23rd, and the beta takes place from the 29th to the 12th.

Good Luck!

Possibly the first of many to come as I spend more and more time in Japan.

So here it is:

I think I’m turning Japanese because: I was riding my bike home after buying dinner at the convini (dinner = 2 onigiri and some sushi) and passed by a Yakinikuyasan. The smell was wonderful. All I could think about was why the hell I was eating convini food when I live so close to a decent meal.

Reasons this is Japanese.

Riding the bike home. Not a BMX or mountain bike, I ride the boring yet surprisingly useful chari. If I were to use this bike anywhere in New Zealand, I would probably be beaten to death with it.

Eating onigiri and sushi from the convini. I don’t know of any other countries (only been to 5 or so) where you can buy a full, microwaveable meal containing almost anything. Nikuman FTW.

The Yakinikuyasan. I don’t know if other countries have something similar. Possibly a steak house would come close, but nothing beats good old yakiniku. Yes, I know its kind of Korean - whatever.

Finally, the reason I was not eating at the Yakinikuyasan. It’s very common to go out to eat with workmates and friends in Japan. There have been weeks where I haven’t eaten a meal at home - as I was eating out every day. The all famous Izakaya is the best place to eat out, but as I was by myself, I felt uncomfortable eating out alone.

The summer is finally over. The days are getting cooler. School has begun. I didn’t really get up to much over the summer holidays as my credit card bill is equal to my pay check this month. I have got to start pinching pennies and save for the wedding.

School started yesterday. Looks like I have another great school. There are around 550 students, which works out to around 15 classes. The school won the Chiba prefecture kendo competition, and won bronze for the Kanto region. They are also very good at track and field, and there is also one girl that won something for surfing. Unfortunately for me they don’t have a badminton or tennis club, so I will have to make do with soccer and volleyball.

The teachers all seem nice (So far) and there are a few around my age (or they just look young) - so hopefully we will have a few things in common.

Self Introductions start today. Luckily I have a double stay so I don’t mind too much. I made sure to commandeer the computer room because it’s much easier to present in, and it has air conditioning