A Birthday I Won't Forget...

Gomen! (Sorry!) All apologies for the briefness of the last blog, I huffed and puffed like I was going to sit down and write a novel, but I really just have been extremely busy. New Year's Eve was amazing, and the Japanese for it is Akemashite omedetou; however, the preferable thing to say is 'Nice to meet you in the new year'. (In Japanese this is "atarashii toshi ni o ai dekite ureshii") I'm not going to pretend I actually remember how to say that one everyday, but it's nice to understand how the Japanese view the new year. New Year...New Person. Seems more concrete than the resolutions of American hogwash and weight attainment. (or retainment, I suppose...) With that said, mine truly was a wonderful New Year. I met a gorgeous girl that has me awash with giddiness every day I wake up; although she lives in Colorado and is just visiting, it's a supreme feeling to be infatuated with a pretty girl. "Shinsui" is the Japanese for infatuation, and I'm not sure of the consequences of this word, due to the fact that I simply Googled 'infatuation', but I'm pretty sure you can't explain that feeling in any other sense than what it is.

My birthday (Otanjoubi omedetou to meee) falls on the second, apparently my heart does too. The same girl that I got but a glimpse of on the NYE celebrations let me take her to a pro basketball game as a pseudo-date for my birthday. Didn't know her, just knew her family, and by the end of the drive to Naha and back, I've felt like I knew the chick for years. Growing up in Okinawa as a kid (both of us, different times) definitely affects the way you treat people. Our parents are close friends, and she's the girl next door and I didn't even know it. For years... I guess that's what happens when we both travel internationally, regularly. I will do my best not to ooze gooey romantic bile from my rose-tinted eyes, but she's a spectacular gal. Stay on concept of Japanese-American logic differences. So yeah, Kancho.
After my coworkers knew it was my birthday, I was stricken with a game of Kancho that hurt me more than the spanking my Filipino sister-in-law insisted on. (Strange customs, that's why the blog's here.)

Kancho - a game Japanese schoolchildren play where they put their hands into what looks to me like a pistol... and stick it up each other's butts. Now, as an American (where homophobia runs rampant, and this would be looked down upon with utmost fervor) this is just wrong. As a Japanese, this is a funny game that tests the awareness of the dumb kids and really is a silly game that is played on playgrounds. This would be great if somebody told me in advance, but at work, I have my SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) job at Pizza Hut. It's all-Japanese. There are very few people that speak English and learning Japanese is essential. Toma and Hei-san, (it's actually Heihachiro, but they shorten names like we do) thought it would be funny to start a crash course in Kancho on me, for a birthday present. At work. So all day, I had Japanese men creeping around me, hands in gun formation, waiting for me to ..do.. my ...job... and then they'd stick that gun up my bunghole. Not the greatest introduction, I actually almost freaked out on one of them the third time it happened. I'm very glad to have had a translator there named Josh that saved me from killing the two of them. (Jodannnn ((joking)) I'd never kill, only maim.) This is also a joke, I couldn't hurt a fly... but apparently the city I escaped would and will:
Pain, served with a Cajun crust. The people in Pensacola really do grow from the mud and simply aren't accepting of other cultures.
This is a pic of the main street of Palafox (in Pcola)from above... I don't miss Pensacola-isms. Maybe the people, but not the culture. The mindset's are as backwards as the inverted colors I was playing with.

I like to pretend I'm a gangsta, but in reality I'm about as soft as apple pie. Which by the way, is, in Japanese, Appuru Pai. There is no translation for apple pie. It's an American thing, just like our saying goes. There is a word for 'apple', just not 'apple pie'. This is the kind of thing that will throw off an English major for all I'm worth. Apple in Japanese is 'ringo', and apple pie is 'appuru pai'. C'est la vie.
On a personal note, I'm beginning to discontinue the mix of Spanish and Japanese that seems to happen every once in awhile for no reason at all. "Ippun mas, por favor" (One minute more, please...) Growing up hearing multiple languages is a spectacular thing, but when you leap from Romance languages to the Far East, it's simply 'wadgi wadgi'. (annoying)
Thank goodness I only sort of understand Spanish and the instances that my mind makes this confusing amalgam are few and far between. Finally, the last straw is having Hogan as an addition to my Japanese learning experience... It's like learning Cajun/Hick in English, and originates out of the Ryukyus... Okinawan-Speak.
So another one of my words I've picked up (I hope I pronounce it correctly, constantly doing this wrong) is "nifeedeebiru". (Thank You) Nee-fay-de-bee-doo for all you regular Americans that can't discern Romaji. (Romaji is what I'm saying everything in... It's Japanese spelled in English; I should've started the blog with that tidbit, but it's an erroneous term considering that I can't use a Kana keyboard yet.. yeah they have different symbols... remember?
English- Thank You
Romaji- Arigatou Gozaimasu
Hiragana- Romaji but in simple symbols.
Katakana- A more complex set of symbols (to an American) that make more sense to convert American words. Irony?
Kanji- The most complex set that people are terrified of from the West. It's like 16,000 symbols that can have multiple meanings and originates in China. This is what Japanese calligraphy typically takes from, and definitely Chinese calligraphy. The prettiest of all the symbols, and yet the most "muzukashii" (difficult) to learn.
To further confuse and proclaim the indecent amount of ambiguity in the Japanese language, you should read this link to translate the word, muzukashii.

Usually I pick a buncha jams, but I've been on an interview binge lately...
Here are some of my favorites:
I respect all these guys! A lot...
Chris Thile making great points on classical uppity-ness.
Brandon Boyd talking art, inspiration, etc...
Childish Gambino spitting venom.
Talking about racism, nerds, and some other things I ambiguously identify with...
And finally one of the biggest jerks of the industry actually trying to not be a shithead:
John Mayer talks on his influences.