April 28, 2009
April 27, 2009
Randoseru
All elementary school children are required to have a certain kind of bag. It is called a randoseru, originally a Dutch word (ransel). There are 2 basic colors, black for boys and red for girls but lately they have been coming out with blue and pink as well. The quality bags are made of horse leather and can cost anywhere from $200-$600. It is typically the job of the grandparents to buy these for their grandchildren, and a few of my older students didn't look so happy when they mentioned they had to buy some for their grandkids.
The good thing about the bags is that they are supposed to last for all 6 years of elementary school, so if you look at it that way it isn't such a bad deal. After the students are finished with the randoseru it is shipped of to a company to make a miniture version using the same leather from the original bag. This costs a few hundred dollars.
I got ahold of a randoseru (picture above) to take a closer look and it is built like a tank. My Japanese boss (who is now a grandmother and knows about these things) was very impressed with the quality and said it was worth about $300! Too much blue blood in Japan.
April 24, 2009
Ray's
Last week my brother and his brother-in-law and I went to the world's first indoor mountain biking course. It is located in an old factory and all the trails are made of wood. Not too forgiving when one falls, but better than concrete! It cost $10 for bike and padding rentals and another $10 to get on the course.
I hadn't been mountain biking since I lived in Waco (2003) and started off a bit slow and nervous. I also didn't have my asthma medicine with me, so that didn't help either. I quickly got the hang of things and just as quickly had an asthma attack. After recovering I promptly fell off a teeter-totter and bent the bike up pretty good while I only suffered superficial flesh wounds.
The following video is basically how I progressed throughout the evening.
April 18, 2009
April 16, 2009
Train trip
April 4 Long Beach, CA
Breakfast-ham and cheese toast with a slice of pineapple under the cheese for oomph(!), if you are into that sort of thing.
Lunch-white bean soup and soft sausage
I left the ship at 2pm for a 3pm shuttle to pick-up me up at the Queen Mary to take me to Los Angeles Union Station.
At 3:30 I called the shuttle company and asked why there was no shuttle, they said wait 20 more minutes. 20 minutes later I called again and they said to wait another 20 minutes. This was for a prepaid reserved shuttle. I promptly canceled it. Thanks for nothing Prime Time Shuttle, you suck!
The nearby valet drivers ordered me a sedan for the same price (even though they got a cut), but at least I traveled in style. Made it to the train on time exhausted and ready for some shuteye.
April 5, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado
I was hoping that the last few nights of nearly zero sleeping hours would ease me into a deeply warm cocoon of slumbering goodness, alas, it t'wasn't to be (even though I took a double dose of sleeping pills.)
I attempted to remedy my malaise with the purchase of 3 "King Size" Snickers bars. The cashier chastised me and said that my mother would be disappointed, but she brightened up when she saw I was also buying a 100% all beef Hebrew National hotdog!
I spent the remainder of the night wandering the train.
The next day was spent wandering and napping. I found a good place to lay but there were 2 young Mexican kids who wanted me to play more than sleep. I spent much of the time teaching them English and them teaching me Spanish.
The conductor found a vagrant hitching a ride. After his capture he started to wander the aisle, now I have a very (un)rational fear that he will slit my throat as I sleep and get my new, sweat stained shirt all bloody.
I need a shower.
April 6 Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois
No sleep again last night, but atleast my throat remains sealed.
Got to talking with a man sitting next to me. Discussed the usual-politics (he doesn't care much for Obama, but we agreed that we hope he succeeds), travel (he asked me how much it costs to bed a Japanese woman, then informed me that a 16 year old Filipina wasn't so expensive), and drug mules (they are just innocent middlemen). It was the first time a black man called me "brother".
What little credibility he had went out with the bathwater when he said I was an eloquent speaker. Having a silver tongue and being tactful are two things I never expect to be said about dear ol' moi.
The man later did a quick look around the train carriage before stating "I'm not a racist, but..." (who knew that black people say that too??!!) then went on a rant about the "Jews" and Israel. I learned that American Indians used to be Muslim because they were originally from Africa. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were originally whites but then god punished them and gave them dark skin because they killed Jesus somewhere in America's breadbasket.
As salâm ‘alekum indeed.
Breakfast-ham and cheese toast with a slice of pineapple under the cheese for oomph(!), if you are into that sort of thing.
Lunch-white bean soup and soft sausage
I left the ship at 2pm for a 3pm shuttle to pick-up me up at the Queen Mary to take me to Los Angeles Union Station.
At 3:30 I called the shuttle company and asked why there was no shuttle, they said wait 20 more minutes. 20 minutes later I called again and they said to wait another 20 minutes. This was for a prepaid reserved shuttle. I promptly canceled it. Thanks for nothing Prime Time Shuttle, you suck!
The nearby valet drivers ordered me a sedan for the same price (even though they got a cut), but at least I traveled in style. Made it to the train on time exhausted and ready for some shuteye.
April 5, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado
I was hoping that the last few nights of nearly zero sleeping hours would ease me into a deeply warm cocoon of slumbering goodness, alas, it t'wasn't to be (even though I took a double dose of sleeping pills.)
I attempted to remedy my malaise with the purchase of 3 "King Size" Snickers bars. The cashier chastised me and said that my mother would be disappointed, but she brightened up when she saw I was also buying a 100% all beef Hebrew National hotdog!
I spent the remainder of the night wandering the train.
The next day was spent wandering and napping. I found a good place to lay but there were 2 young Mexican kids who wanted me to play more than sleep. I spent much of the time teaching them English and them teaching me Spanish.
The conductor found a vagrant hitching a ride. After his capture he started to wander the aisle, now I have a very (un)rational fear that he will slit my throat as I sleep and get my new, sweat stained shirt all bloody.
I need a shower.
April 6 Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois
No sleep again last night, but atleast my throat remains sealed.
Got to talking with a man sitting next to me. Discussed the usual-politics (he doesn't care much for Obama, but we agreed that we hope he succeeds), travel (he asked me how much it costs to bed a Japanese woman, then informed me that a 16 year old Filipina wasn't so expensive), and drug mules (they are just innocent middlemen). It was the first time a black man called me "brother".
What little credibility he had went out with the bathwater when he said I was an eloquent speaker. Having a silver tongue and being tactful are two things I never expect to be said about dear ol' moi.
The man later did a quick look around the train carriage before stating "I'm not a racist, but..." (who knew that black people say that too??!!) then went on a rant about the "Jews" and Israel. I learned that American Indians used to be Muslim because they were originally from Africa. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were originally whites but then god punished them and gave them dark skin because they killed Jesus somewhere in America's breadbasket.
As salâm ‘alekum indeed.
April 14, 2009
Week 2 of my trip across the Pacific
March 28
Ship rolled all night. Didn’t get much sleep till morning.
Breakfast-skipped
Lunch-“prison soup” and bad sausage, chocolate pudding
Dinner-pizza, pretty good
March 29
Breakfast-slept through
Lunch-chicken and rice with chocolate ice cream. The captain and chief engineer bitched about the Russian cook in their native German tongue. They really don’t like the cook.
Dinner-cold cuts, Chief Engineer refused to come for dinner
March 30
Breakfast-slept though
Lunch-a type of slop
Dinner-more slop but with a free beer
An extremely bumpy morning. It felt like large earthquakes where hitting every few minutes for about an hour. The bow of the ship was going up and down like crazy. It turns out that they shut down the engines for maintenance and all of the shaking was from waves hitting the ships hull.
March 30 (yes, we had the privilege of repeating a day, so I am actually a day older than you)
Breakfast-X
Lunch-old beef and rice, cook seems to be running out of food
Dinner-long macaroni noodles with a giant meatball and a shriveled plum hidden inside
I watched The Big Red One with Mark Hamill. It was horrible.
Today was the second March 30th. We had to repeat a day since we crossed the International Date Line (unfortunately I was stood up). When the ship heads west they skip a day.
March 31
Breakfast-X
Lunch-cabbage soup and chicken fried pork
Dinner-spaghetti with chunks of some sort of meat
Struggling with reading, nothing is keeping me interested
April 1
Lunch-food
Dinner-food
Sleepless. Laid in bed till I drifted off around 6am. Was in a daze the rest of the day.
April 2
Lunch-pork and potatoes, blood red soup
Dinner-cold cuts and potato salad
Another sleepless night. Today’s dinner conversation showed me that I have been pronouncing “Adolf” wrong all these years. Friends would say I was being tactless for mentioning Hitler, Himmler and Hess during a meal with Germans, but they started it with their complaints of Bush and Beckham!
April 3
Lunch-fish and mashed potatoes
I haven’t been able to eat much of anything the past couple of days. Maybe it is due to lack of sleep.
Finally made it to Long Beach at 16:02, only 2 minutes late! It was nice to see land when I woke up this morning.
Took the seafarer bus to Long Beach’s Walmart. My God!! Put me back on the ship to the land of skinny people! I understand that when one gets older they gain weight, but all the people I saw where in their 20s or younger and had huge stomachs exploding asses and drooping chests. I had to eat an entire large pizza and four large diet Cokes to get over the shock.
I won’t shit for a week.
Ship rolled all night. Didn’t get much sleep till morning.
Breakfast-skipped
Lunch-“prison soup” and bad sausage, chocolate pudding
Dinner-pizza, pretty good
March 29
Breakfast-slept through
Lunch-chicken and rice with chocolate ice cream. The captain and chief engineer bitched about the Russian cook in their native German tongue. They really don’t like the cook.
Dinner-cold cuts, Chief Engineer refused to come for dinner
March 30
Breakfast-slept though
Lunch-a type of slop
Dinner-more slop but with a free beer
An extremely bumpy morning. It felt like large earthquakes where hitting every few minutes for about an hour. The bow of the ship was going up and down like crazy. It turns out that they shut down the engines for maintenance and all of the shaking was from waves hitting the ships hull.
March 30 (yes, we had the privilege of repeating a day, so I am actually a day older than you)
Breakfast-X
Lunch-old beef and rice, cook seems to be running out of food
Dinner-long macaroni noodles with a giant meatball and a shriveled plum hidden inside
I watched The Big Red One with Mark Hamill. It was horrible.
Today was the second March 30th. We had to repeat a day since we crossed the International Date Line (unfortunately I was stood up). When the ship heads west they skip a day.
March 31
Breakfast-X
Lunch-cabbage soup and chicken fried pork
Dinner-spaghetti with chunks of some sort of meat
Struggling with reading, nothing is keeping me interested
April 1
Lunch-food
Dinner-food
Sleepless. Laid in bed till I drifted off around 6am. Was in a daze the rest of the day.
April 2
Lunch-pork and potatoes, blood red soup
Dinner-cold cuts and potato salad
Another sleepless night. Today’s dinner conversation showed me that I have been pronouncing “Adolf” wrong all these years. Friends would say I was being tactless for mentioning Hitler, Himmler and Hess during a meal with Germans, but they started it with their complaints of Bush and Beckham!
April 3
Lunch-fish and mashed potatoes
I haven’t been able to eat much of anything the past couple of days. Maybe it is due to lack of sleep.
Finally made it to Long Beach at 16:02, only 2 minutes late! It was nice to see land when I woke up this morning.
Took the seafarer bus to Long Beach’s Walmart. My God!! Put me back on the ship to the land of skinny people! I understand that when one gets older they gain weight, but all the people I saw where in their 20s or younger and had huge stomachs exploding asses and drooping chests. I had to eat an entire large pizza and four large diet Cokes to get over the shock.
I won’t shit for a week.
April 9, 2009
Week 1
I did a half-assed journal while I was on the motor vessel Hanjin Praha from March 21st to April 4th. I went from Pusan, South Korea to Long Beach, California. You can find some more pictures here. Here is week 1.
March 21st
Picked up at Busan Station and driven to Pusan New Port (yes, they cannot decide how to spell their city). After breezing through customs and immigration I boarded the m/v Hanjin Praha.
Met the captain and chief engineer who are both German. Had lunch with them (meat and bean soup, sausage and vanilla pudding) and chatted for a bit.
Strolled around the port as the ship finished loading cargo. Had to wait 3 hours.
I am in “Empty Room B”. Lots of books and movies already in the room. There is a TV, VCR and DVD player. Most of the movies are action b-movies and the books are all spy or law thrillers.
Dinner was a huge fried pork cutlet, potato wedges and chopped cabbage. The captain invited me to the bridge to watch as we left port 1 hour late.
March 22nd
Big thunderstorm all night. Ship was rolling quite a bit. I am really happy that I brought motion sickness pills, they came in handy. Woke up late and missed breakfast.
Lunch was baked chicken, potato wedges, veggies and bean soup. Very Eastern European (the cook is Russian). The captain and I spoke a little about a lot. One thing he talked about was how Egyptian pilots (pilots are the ones who control the ship as it enters and leaves a port) give him the “heil Hitler”salut. They are quite happy that the German Army helped rid them of their British oppressors as well as the removal of the Jews.
The wind is howling(35-40mph) and the ship is rolling from side to side. My porthole faces the bow but I am getting zero wind into my room. If I stick my arm out the window it is difficult to keep steady in the stiff wind.
I see stars but not as clearly as I thought I would.
My compass says we are heading at a bearing of 24° NE, we must have rounded Kyuushu and are heading up to Osaka. We should arrive tomorrow at 5am. The captain will call me at 4:30am so I can be on the bridge when we dock.
March 23rd
Captain called at 4:35am to let me know we were approaching Osaka. We finally docked 4 hours later at 8:15am. It was slow going.
I ran down for a quick breakfast of beans and hotdogs.
Left Osaka at 2:00pm. Lunch was pork, potatoes and cabbage.
Trying to read nonfiction but can’t get into it. Chose a book at random from the ships library and came across this-
“The Internet?”
“Yeah,” she said dryly. “Kind of a computer thing. It’s all the rage.”
Time is moving too fast and killing my enjoyment of reading. I was reading Blood and Oil yesterday and the author was talking about the price of oil being $30 barrel.
Dinner was spaghetti with a Hungarian gulash for the sauce.
Sleep was nonexistent.
March 24th
Woke up at 6:30am to join the captain on the bridge as we entered Tokyo bay. After we docked I went to the roof of the bridge (the highest part of the ship) for some pictures. The captain forgot about me and locked me out. I had to climb down 8 stories of ladders/stairs.
Lunch-Stuffed peppers and potatoes
Dinner-Pork stew, mashed potatoes and cabbage
Saw Mt. Fuji as we left the channel. It’s the last bit of land I will see for the next 10+ days.
March 25th
Breakfast-“pancakes” with berry sauce
Lunch-Baked chicken and a load of French fries
Dinner-rice (made for the Asian crew members, have had too many potatoes) and tough beef
Felt off all day. Marginally seasick. Slept most of the day.
March 26th
Breakfast-eggs to order and greasy undercooked bacon
Lunch-fried porkchops, potatoes and chocolate ice cream
Dinner-cold cuts
Another sleepless night, the ship shudders a lot. I asked the captain about it but he had know idea what I was talking about. Maybe I am losing it.
March 27th
Missed breakfast. The ship moves the clocks forward at 2:00am every night since we left Tokyo. I woke up in time, but I was still on yesterday’s clock, so I actually missed it (does that make sense?)
Lunch-rice and fish
Did laundry.
Dinner-meat and potatoes
April 4, 2009
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